VITAL INVENTION: A worker checks the 100-kw two-circuit electric machines on January 7, invented by Sino-EV Tech Co. Ltd., a Beijing-based company. As a key component for the engine of electronic vehicles, the machine has huge significance for the development of China's new energy vehicles (YANG GUANG)

Inflation Rises

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 2.5 percent year on year in December, said the National Bureau of Statistics on January 11.

The inflation rate increased from 2 percent in November and a 33-month low of 1.7 percent in October as food prices jumped.

December's CPI rose 0.8 percent from the previous month.

Food prices, which account for nearly one third of the CPI basket, rose 4.2 percent in December from one year earlier, pushing the CPI up by 1.37 percentage points.

Vegetable prices jumped 14.8 percent year on year in December as chilly weather disrupted vegetable transportation, pushing the CPI up by 0.41 percentage points.

Trade Growth Slows

China's foreign trade growth missed the government's 10-percent target set for 2012 by rising only 6.2 percent from 2011, China Customs data showed on January 10.

Exports and imports totaled $3.87 trillion in 2012, and growth slowed sharply from the 22.5-percent rise registered in 2011, said Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs, at a press conference.

Exports stood at $2.05 trillion, up 7.9 percent from the previous year, while imports were $1.82 trillion, up 4.3 percent year on year.

Trade surplus widened to $231.1 billion in 2012, 48.1 percent more than the level recorded in 2011.

In December alone, China's exports gained 14.1 percent from one year earlier to $19.92 billion. Imports rose 6 percent year on year to $18.18 billion.

Top Energy Producer

China remained the world's largest energy producer for a fifth year in 2012, said the National Energy Administration on January 9.

Its total installed power generation capacity had reached 1.14 billion kw by the end of 2012.

Installed hydropower capacity stood at 249 million kw, the largest amount in the world. Its wind power had also led the world with an installed capacity of 63 million kw by the end of 2012.

Crude oil reserves and production steadily increased, while natural gas production saw rapid development last year.

China has been the world's largest energy producer since 2008, official data show.