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China's consumer price index (CPI) for February remains the same as February last year, but the average CPI for the first two months of this year is 0.5 percent lower than for the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported Wednesday.
The NBS says the February CPI for urban areas dropped 0.2 percent, while that of rural areas rose 0.4 percent, compared with last year.
Food prices were 0.6 percent higher than last February, with meat and poultry rising 1.3 percent and eggs 13.1 percent while grain prices dropped.
The NBS attributes the rise in food prices to the rising demands of Chinese consumers during China's Spring Festival holiday. Compared with the previous month, the price of meat and poultry rose 3.6 percent, aquatic products rose 7.2 percent and vegetables 8.6 percent.
In February, clothing prices dropped 2 percent, and the cost of medicine and medical care dropped 0.8 percent, compared with the same period last year.
The costs of transport and telecommunications fell 0.5 percent, with the price of vehicles dropping 4.9 percent and telecommunications appliances 16.5 percent, while the cost of transport between cities and telecommunications services were up 8.2 percent and 2.5 percent respectively.
The price index for housing was 0.6 percent above the same period last year, with house rents rising 5.7 percent and water, electricity and fuel climbing 1.8 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2002)
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