The State Statistical Bureau (SSB) announced Tuesday that February's consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.1 percent over January to 101.6, continuing a small four-month rise since last November.
The SSB report says that the CPI for rural areas climbed 0.3 percent over last month, exceeding that for urban areas by 0.2 percentage points.
Consumption in some western provinces indicated more active signals than that in the east. The CPI in northwest China's Gansu Province increased by 1.9 percent over January while that in south China's Guangdong Province dropped by 0.9 percent.
Analysts here said that the influence of the Spring Festival on the consumer market has faded away. For example, the prices of food like meat and aquatic products have reduced to the pre- festival level.
And the prices for railway, airline and bus tickets have also dropped after the rush hours of the Spring Festival, of which the price of railway tickets declined most by 0.7 percent from last month.
The food price rose by 0.6 percent, among which that for vegetable soared most by 4.3 percent, and the price for grain remained similar to January, with that for rice up slightly.
(People’s Daily 03/14/2001)
