China’s consumer price index (CPI) dropped 1.4% in May from last year, AFP reported. The figure marked the fourth consecutive monthly decline and was dragged down mainly by non-food items, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The CPI fell by 0.9% year-on-year in the first five months of 2009, but May’s 1.4% decline was basically unchanged from the 1.5% drop in April. The prices of non-food items fell 1.7% in May compared with a year earlier, while food prices were down 0.6%. Prices of pork fell by 32% in May year-on-year due to last year’s high base; supply shortages in early 2008 had driven pork prices up and were seen as a key driver of inflation. China’s producer price index (PPI) dropped in May as well, falling 7.2% year-on-year, the bureau announced. May’s drop was comparable with April’s 6.6% decline and the first-quarter fall of 4.6% from the same period last year. Prices of production materials declined 8.8% percent year-on-year in May.