Xinhua
Beijing, March 11 (Xinhua) China’s consumer price index (CPI), the main inflation indicator, rose 8.7 percent in February over the same time last year, the highest in nearly 12 years. In May 1996, the CPI touched a record 8.9 percent. The index rose by an annual rate of 14.11 percent from 1992 to 1996, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.

The February figure was much higher than market estimate. The Bank of China, one of the country’s major lenders, predicted a rise of 8.3 percent in February.

The figure was mainly pushed up by soaring food prices and the severe winter weather that wrought havoc in south China from January to February, said Yao Jingyuan, chief economist of the bureau.

The relatively low consumer price index of 2.7 percent in February 2007 also led the index to the new high, he said.

Food prices surged 23.3 percent in February, with pork prices up 63.4 percent, and vegetable prices rising 46 percent.
Xinhua