China's inflation moderates to 7.1% in June

China’s consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose by 7.1% in June, a significant drop on the 7.7% figure posted in May, AFP reported, citing an announcement made by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday. It was the second successive monthly decline following April’s 8.5%. Inflation came to 7.9% for the first six months of 2008, with food prices the main driver, rising 20.4% during the period. The NBS also announced that China’s GDP grew by 10.4% during the first six months compared with the same period a year ago. No figure was given for second-quarter growth. The economy expanded by 10.6% in the first quarter, following a full-year rise of 11.9% in 2007.