China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, dipped 1.2 percent in August from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The rate of decline was 0.6 percentage points lower than that in July. In August 2008, the CPI rose 4.9 percent over the same month in 2007.

This marked the seventh consecutive month of decline since the index dropped 1.6 percent in February, the first fall since October 2002.

In the first eight months, the CPI was down 1.2 percent from the same period last year, and the rate of decline the same as that in the first seven months period.

The CPI in urban and rural areas respectively dropped 1.3 percent and 1.0 percent in August from the same month last year.

The producer price index (PPI), a major measurement of inflation in wholesaling, in August fell 7.9 percent from a year earlier.

The rate of decline was 0.3 percentage points lower than that in July. In August 2008, the PPI rose 10.1 percent over the same month in 2007.

From January to August, the PPI dipped 6.4 percent compared with the same period last year. The rate of decline was 0.2 percentage points faster than in the first seven months.

NBS spokesman Li Xiaochao said the August CPI and PPI figures reflected the growth of society's demand for industrial material and commodities.

"There are no inflation worries, because the figures are still on the decline compared with the figures for the same month last year," Li said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2009)