June 12, 2008

China's inflation slows in May

China's inflation slowed to 7.7 percent last month from the almost 12-year high of 8.5 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The inflation rate in urban areas slowed to 7.3 percent in May from 8.1 percent in April, while that in rural areas declined to 8.5 percent from 9.3 percent.

Food prices were up 19.9 percent on-year, which was 2.2 percent lower than the growth in April. Prices of non-food items had risen 1.7 percent on-year.

Meat prices rose 37.8 percent from a year earlier after a 47.9 percent gain in April. Vegetables rose 10.3 percent after a 13.6 percent increase. Food grains and edible oil prices were up by 8.6 percent while edible oil and fats increased 41.4 percent.

RMB1=US$0.1448 (Jun 12)