China's monthly inflation rises to 4.5 per cent

Feb 9, 2012, 3:25 GMT

Beijing - China's main measure of consumer price inflation rose to 4.5 per cent in January, following marginal falls for the five previous months, the government said on Thursday.

The monthly consumer price index (CPI), climbed 4.5 per cent up year-on-year, slightly more than December's 4.1-per-cent rise, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Most of the rise was attributed to a jump of 10.5 per cent year-on-year in food prices in January, the bureau said.

But the monthly producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation in wholesale prices, eased to 0.7 per cent year-on-year in January, it said.

December's inflation was the lowest monthly figure since October 2010, and followed a 37-month high of 6.5 per cent year-on-year in July.

China's full-year inflation reached 5.4 per cent last year, higher than the government's target of 4 per cent.