Inflation slows in China

BEIJING, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Inflation in China slowed slightly in January as consumer demand is falling, an economic analyst said.

The consumer price index rose 1.2 percent in December from a year ago but only 1 percent in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

Economist Li Huiyong at brokerage firm Shenyin-Wanguo said falling demand and tighter money supplies had slowed inflation, Xinhua reported.

Inflation peaked at 8.7 percent in February last year. January's rise was the slowest increase since July 2006.

The producer price index, measuring prices on a wholesale level, fell 3.3 percent in January after dropping 1.1 percent in December. The PPI peaked in August at 10.1 percent, a 12-year high, Xinhua said.

"Given a time-lag effect, January CPI and PPI data reflect the economic slowdown last year," Zuo Xiaolei, chief economist at Galaxy Securities, told Xinhua.