BEIJING - CHINA'S inflation rate hit a 17-month low of 4.0 per cent in October, down from 4.6 per cent the previous month, the government said on Tuesday.
The figure is the lowest since May last year, confirming a trend for weakening inflation in the world's fourth-largest economy, as growth creation becomes more of a policy concern.
The consumer price data from the National Bureau of Statistics were released a day after China announced that wholesale prices - another inflation gauge - eased to 6.6 per cent in October, down from 9.1 per cent in September.
Food prices, the main factor in driving up consumer prices in China recently, rose by 8.5 per cent in October, down from 9.7 per cent in September, according to the bureau.
China started out 2008 with inflation control at the top of its list of priorities, but with the trade surplus likely to shrink this year, economic growth has become the dominant policy objective in Beijing.
China unveiled a US$586 billion (S$875 billion) stimulus package this week, in the strongest indication yet that the government is concerned about the impact the global crisis has on domestic growth.
In the first 10 months of the year, China's consumer price index increased 6.7 per cent from the same period last year. -- AFP
