Xinhua quoted the National Bureau of Statistics said China consumer price index a major gauge of inflation dipped by 1.2% YoY in August from a year earlier.

According to the report, the rate of decline was 0.6 percentage points lower than that in July. In August 2008 the CPI rose 4.9% over the same month in 2007. This marked the seventh consecutive month of decline since the index dropped 1.6% in February the first fall since October 2002.

In January to August the CPI was down 1.2%YoY from the same period last year and the rate of decline the same as that in the first seven months period. The CPI in urban and rural areas respectively dropped 1.3% and 1.0% in August from the same month last year.

The producer price index a major measurement of inflation in wholesaling in August fell 7.9%YoY from a year earlier. The rate of decline was 0.3 percentage points lower than that in July. In August 2008 the PPI rose 10.1% over the same month in 2007.

From January to August, the PPI dipped 6.4%YoY compared with the same period last year. The rate of decline was 0.2 percentage points faster than in the first seven months.

Mr Li Xiaochao NBS spokesman said the August CPI and PPI figures reflected the growth of society's demand for industrial material and commodities. He said that "There are no inflation worries, because the figures are still on the decline compared with the figures for the same month last year."

(Sourced from Xinhua)