In June this year, China's consumer price index (CPI) indicated an increase of 2.2 percent year on year but was down 0.6 percent month on month, accordingly to China's National Bureau of Statistics. The year-on-year increase rate recorded in May was 3.0 percent. The cooling of the inflation rate in June is expected to give the Chinese government more room to ease its monetary policy and to provide increased support for growth. Meanwhile, China's CPI in the first half of the current year indicated an increase of 3.3 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
Also in June this year, China's producer price index (PPI) fell by 2.1 percent compared to the same month of 2011, while it dropped by 0.7 percent compared with May. The year-on-year decrease was the fourth consecutive year-on-year decline. China's PPI for the first half of the year decreased by 0.6 percent on year-on-year basis.