Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the CPI fell 0.8 percent year-on-year in urban areas and 0.4 percent in rural areas in November.

The overall level of consumer price for the first 11 months of the year was 0.8 percent lower than in the same period last year, the NBS said.

Among the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions surveyed by the NBS, 22 saw a declining CPI while the remaining nine recorded price hikes in November.

In breakdown, the prices dropped 1.3 percent for consumer goods,0.1 percent for foodstuffs, and 1 percent for non-food products, while a 1.3-percent rise was registered in the price of services and housing prices remained unchanged compared with a year ago.

(People's Daily December 14, 2002)