The Consumer Price Index rose 1.8 percent from last year in Xiamen in September, putting the city's CPI increase in the first three quarters at 1.6 percent, announced the National Statistics Bureau on Oct 15.

This is the lowest it has been since 2010 when compared with previous years' quarterly statistics.

In the first three quarters, Xiamen ranked 26 in CPI growth among 36 cities across China, 1.6 percentage points lower than first-ranked Shanghai.

Of eight weights composing the index, five went up during this nine months period - food, tobacco and liquor rose 4.3 percent; residence 2.8 percent; other articles and services 2.6 percent; health care 1.7 percent and education, culture and recreation 0.8 percent.

While three of them dropped - household articles and services by 0.9 percent; transportation and communication 1.9 percent; and clothing 3.4 percent.

The 4.3 percent rise in the food, tobacco and liquor category ranked ninth among 36 Chinese cities,on par with Qingdao, Changsha and Chengdu.

According to data released from various government agencies in Xiamen, food prices experienced rather large fluctuations during the period

Two situations factored into the price fluctuations – a pork price spike in March, and the hazards of turbulent weather, such as cold waves and typhoons, which drove prices to quick escalation.

The prices rise in the residence category, which ranked 11th among the 36 cities, reflected to a certain level the increasing demand in real estate properties during the first half of the year. House prices are not actually included in the category, which instead uses rent, water, electricity and fuel cost to influence the categorical percentage.