in the first half of 2008. Food prices and housing prices soared 20.4 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, and continued to be triggers of the CPI's surge. The producer price index (PPI) rose 7.6 percent year on year, up 4.8 percentage points from the same period last year.

Fixed asset investment

Fixed asset investment recorded relatively fast growth with improved investment structure. The amount of fixed asset investment in the first half of the year soared 26.3 percent year on year to 6.8402 trillion yuan ($1 trillion), and the growth rate was 0.4 percentage points higher than the same period a year ago. The central and western parts of the country recorded faster growth speed than the eastern provinces.

Domestic sales

Retail sales of consumer goods in domestic markets accelerated 21.4 percent in the first half of the year to 5.1043 trillion yuan ($747 billion) with rising urban and rural consumption. The growth rate was 6 percentage points higher than during the same period last year.

Residents' income

Urban per-capita disposable income rose 6.3 percent (when CPI growth was taken into account) to 8,065 yuan ($1,180) year on year, while per-capita cash income in rural areas increased 10.3 percent to 2,528 yuan ($370).

Broad money supply

The money supply remained stable and saw an increase in the amount of deposits. By the end of June, the broad money supply was 44.3 trillion yuan ($6.5 trillion), up 17.4 percent, while the narrow money supply growth rate slowed to 14.2 percent. The cash in circulation growth rate also declined 2.3 percentage points to 12.3 percent and stood at 3.0181 trillion yuan ($442 billion).

(Source: National Bureau of Statistics)

Shrinking Trade Surplus

China's trade surplus in the first half of this year dwindled because of a slowdown in exports and a surge in imports.

Figures from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) showed that in the first six months China recorded a trade surplus of $99 billion, down 11.8 percent from the year-earlier period.

Half-year exports totaled $666.6 billion, up 21.9 percent from the same period last year, while imports shot up 30.6 percent to $567.57 billion during the same period. The monthly trade surplus kept shrinking in the past few months. Analysts said the surplus would continue to shrink during the second half of the year.

The appreciating yuan plus sluggish international market demand have made exports more expensive. The increasing costs of raw materials, labor and energy-saving measures also added pressure to export companies.

Zhao Yumin, an expert on international markets at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, told China Securities Journal that government policies would determine the export situation during the next six months.

Weird Oil Export Surge

Although refineries have been grumbling about heavy losses because of skyrocketing international crude oil prices, domestic crude oil producers quintupled their exports to overseas markets in June compared to the same period last year.