Consumer prices weaken significantly in August

Consumer prices rose 4.9% in August from a year earlier, the slowest growth rate since June 2007, Bloomberg reported. It was the fourth consecutive month that the consumer price index (CPI) has weakened and the August figure represents a significant decline on the 6.3% increase seen in July. China’s full-year inflation target is 4.8%. Food prices, which have been the main driver of inflation in the last year, rose 10.3% year-on-year, compared to a 14.4% increase in July. Non-food price growth remained static at 2.1%. Meanwhile producer prices climbed 10.1% in August, up from 10% in July. This is the fastest pace of growth since at least 1996, although it was suggested it may now have peaked given the recent slowing in international commodity prices. Urban fixed-asset investment rose 27.4% for the eight months through August, more or less maintaining the pace set for the first seven months.