China's trade surplus jumps 15% in August

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-10 21:01

Lowest inflation in a year

The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, eased further to 4.9 percent in August, the lowest since July 2007, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday. It hit the 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in February.

This came on falling food prices. Prices in food, which accounted for a third of the CPI, jumped 10.3 percent last month, down 4.1 percent from July level.

"This shows the effectiveness of the government macro-control measures. It didn't come easy when considering the widespread inflation in the world," said NBS chief economist Yao Jingyuan.

"The turning point for a wave of CPI rises had come, as the economic growth gradually slowed and dampened demand," said economist Wang Xiaoguang.

Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development and Research Center of the State Council, said some attention should be paid to the rising production costs and squeeze on corporate profits.

The factory-gate prices, another measure of inflation, gained 10.1 percent in August, the highest since 1996 and up from 10 percent in July.

Zhuang Jian, Asian Development Bank senior economist, urged caution over existing inflation pressure as price rises in non-food items accelerated.

But Zhuang added the easing in consumer inflation left more room for the government to adjust macro-control policies for sustainable economic growth.

Economic slowdown

Urban fixed asset investment rose 27.4 percent in the eight months to August, 0.1 percentage point higher than the January-July level and 0.7 percentage points higher than a year ago, according to the NBS.

"The investment growth in nominal terms was acceptable and even showed a sign of accelerating," said Zhang Xiaojing, an economist with the China Academy of Social Sciences.

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