Inflation "easing" says commission

China's rising consumer prices show signs of slowing and prices should further ease in the final quarter of 2004, the central government said. The National Development and Reform Commission said easing inflation came on the back of stabilizing grain prices and a glut of domestic products. In August, inflation hit a seven-year high of 5.3% on rising food costs, while producer prices rose 6.8% from a year earlier, their largest increase in eight years. Quoted in state media, the commission said the forecast fall was a sign government efforts to clampdown on an investment boom were working.