Prices Drop In January
China's consumer price index dropped 1.6 per cent year-on-year in January, state media reports. This is the first decline in six years, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics. While prices for food (down 1.9 per cent), service products (1.8 per cent) and housing (2.9 per cent) dropped, prices rose for tobacco (up 0.2 per cent) and wine (4.9 per cent). Prices for "media products" also rose, by 1.3 per cent.
Economy "Will Grow 6.5 Per Cent"
China economic growth in the first quarter of 2009 will be 6.5 per cent, the State Information Centre said in a report. "In the first quarter, the economy will still be in a slowdown trend to reach the bottom while the central government's series of stimulus packages will help to counter the slump," a spokesperson of the SIC said. The Chinese government is officially targeting an eight per cent GDP growth rate for the entire 2009. In the last quarter of 2008, growth fell to 6.8 per cent, a seven year low.