Corporate goods prices rose in January 0.5 percent from the previous month and 4.7 percent year-on-year, the People's Bank of China announced Wednesday.

The price index, compiled by the central bank, reflects the change of wholesale goods trading prices among businesses.

The overall price of agricultural produce climbed 2 percent from last December and 6.2 percent from a year earlier. January's price of unprocessed grain rose 0.2 percent from last month and 9.8 percent from last year.

The central bank reported that the rolled steel price rose 1.5 percent from a month ago and 5.8 percent from a year ago, while the cement price grew 2.1 percent month on month and 5.7 percent year on year.

Last month, the overall price of coal, oil and electricity power dropped 0.1 percent from a month ago and rose 15.9 percent from a year ago, it said.

China has taken a series of substantial measures including the first bank interest rate hike in nearly a decade to curb price hikes and cool down the economy over the past year.

As a result, the consumer price index (CPI), a key barometer of inflation, rose just 1.9 percent last month, far below the average 3.9 percent growth level in 2004, according to the National Bureauof Statistics.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2005)