As long as China’s leaders continue to resist a nominal appreciation of the renminbi, a higher domestic general inflation rate is an ineluctable – and largely desirable – result.

The trend in Chinese prices points increasingly upward: yearly inflation was 5.1 per cent in November, up from 4.4 per cent in October. The uptick is partly due to food prices, which grew by 11.7 per cent in the year to November, up from 10.1 per cent in October. Non-food prices, in contrast, were a mere 1.9 per cent higher than a year before.

Food price inflation is a nightmare haunting any government – and rulers as insecure as those in Beijing are the most easily rattled of all. The strong impact of food prices on general inflation serves as a useful reminder of what a poor country China still remains. Beijing is vigilant to the social unrest food costs can spark. No wonder: its authoritarianism is ill-equipped to let people air grievances peacefully.