China's inflation eases to 6.2% in Aug

Updated: 2011-09-09 09:43

(Xinhua)

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BEIJING - China's inflation eased in August from a 37-month high as the country's economy cooled and global uncertainties lingered.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, slowed to 6.2 percent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sept 9.

The NBS said food prices rose 13.4 percent in August. The CPI surged to 6.5 percent in July, driven mostly by food prices which had jumped 14.8 percent from a year earlier. The figure was far above the Chinese government's full-year target of 4 percent for 2011.

To curb soaring inflation, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has raised the benchmark interest rate three times this year and increased the reserve requirement ratio six times.

"The Chinese economy is slowing down due to a slew of tightening policies, and debt woes in Europe and the US add to uncertainties in the global economy, so the government will observe for a while before introducing more macro measures," said Ba Shusong, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, or China's Cabinet.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased 0.3 percent from July.

PPI rises 7.3% year-on-year

The country's Producer Price Index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at wholesale level, rose 7.3 percent year-on-year in August, according to NBS.

August's PPI growth was lower than July's 7.5 percent increase, the NBS said in a statement on its website.

During the first eight months of this year, the country's PPI climbed 7.1 percent from the same period last year.

Producer purchase prices rose by 10.6 percent year-on-year, and grew by 0.2 percent from July, according to the NBS.

The producer prices of production materials rose 8 percent year-on-year in August, and increased by 0.1 percent since July, the statement said.

Fixed-asset investments up 25% in 1st 8 months

China's fixed-asset investments rose 25 percent year-on-year to hit 18.06 trillion yuan ($2.83 trillion) during the first eight months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sept 9.

The figure was 0.4 percentage points lower than that of the past seven months, the NBS said in an online statement.

In August, fixed-asset investments rose by 1.16 percent month-on-month, up from 0.27 percent in July.

In the first eight months, investment in primary and secondary industries rose 23 percent and 27 percent year-on-year to 417.6 billion yuan and 7.92 trillion yuan, respectively. Tertiary industries saw a 23.6-percent increase in investment.

During the period, investment in eastern, central and western regions rose 22.6 percent, 30.1 percent and 29.4 percent, respectively.

Furthermore, investment in the nation's property sector rose 33.2 percent year-on-year to 3.78 trillion yuan, of which 2.71 trillion yuan went to residential housing, an increase of 36.4 percent over the same period last year.

Floor space transactions in the commercial housing sector rose 13.6 percent year-on-year to 598.54 million square meters during the first eight months. Residential housing registered a rise of 13.1 percent in its floor space transactions.

China's inflation eases to 6.2% in Aug

China's retail sales up 17% in Aug

China's retail sales grew 17 percent to 1.4705 trillion yuan ($230 billion) in August from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Sept 9.

Retail sales in August grew by 1.36 percent from July. From January to August, the country's retail sales rose 16.9 percent year-on-year to 11.49 trillion yuan, according to the NBS.

Urban retail sales jumped 17.1 percent year-on-year to 1.28 trillion yuan in August, while rural retail sales climbed 16.4 percent to 192.2 billion yuan, the NBS said.

Jewelry sales soared 44.4 percent to 15 billion yuan, marking the greatest increase among all consumer goods.

Sales of oil and oil products rose by 38.4 percent to 126.7 billion yuan.

The catering sector generated sales of 171.7 billion yuan in August, a rise of 16.7 percent from a year earlier, while commodities retail sales increased 17 percent to nearly 1.3 trillion yuan, the NBS said.

China's inflation eases to 6.2% in Aug