The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday that the CPI fell 0.8 percent year-on-year in urban areas in September, while in rural areas, it dropped 0.5 percent.

Figures show that, in the first nine months of 2002, the CPI dropped 0.8 percent year-on-year.

Twenty-three of 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions saw drops in CPI - ranging from 0.2 percent to 2.5 percent-compared with the September 2001 figures. Those that experienced the most significant drops were Chongqing, down 2.5 percent; Beijing, down 1.9 percent, and Shanxi and Guangdong, both down 1.4percent.

Figures show that the prices of services in September rose 1.3 percent year-on-year. Consumer goods prices dropped 1.3 percent, food, 0.2 percent and non-food products, 0.9 percent.

Meanwhile, the price of food drop 0.2 percent year-on-year - with rice down 2.7 percent, seafood down 2 percent, meat and poultry products down 0.4 percent and eggs down 2.2 percent - despite a rise of 3.4 percent in vegetable prices.

The price of clothing fell 2.6 percent. 2001, and products in sectors such as medicine, transport, telecommunications and housing all dropped year-on-year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2002)