China's consumer prices fell the fastest in three years in November while factory-gate deflation deepened, indicating rising deflationary pressures as weak domestic demand casts doubt over the economic recovery.
Asian shares started cautiously on Monday ahead of a week packed with a quintet of central bank meetings and data on U.S. inflation that could make or break market hopes for an early and rapid fire round of rate cuts next year.
In recent months, Chinese authorities have fanned hopes among some economists that the internal passport system that has largely tethered people's destinies to their place of origin since the 1950s may be in its dying days. A distressed property market and sluggish consumption have injected new urgency into a drive to loosen restrictions and grant more people the opportunities that urban registration affords.