China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, went up 1.0 percent year-on-year in January this year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

The rise rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous month.

In January, the producer price index (PPI), another measure of inflation at the wholesale level, went down 3.3 percent. The decline rate was 2.2 percentage points above the month-earlier level.

The statistical bureau said CPI was up 0.7 percent in urban areas and up 1.5 percent in rural areas last month.

Food prices, which account for around one third of CPI, went up 4.2 percent, while non-food prices were down 0.6 percent.

Meat and related products were priced 2.8 percent lower, fresh vegetables priced 19.6 percent higher, and eggs, 1.3 percent higher.

On monthly base, CPI was up 0.9 percent from the December level, with food prices up 3.3 percent on the previous month.

In terms of PPI, prices of production materials were down 4.4 percent from a year ago, but living materials prices up 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices at factory gate slumped 49.9 percent, with prices of diesel down 4.8 percent and those of gasoline and kerosene up 2.1 percent and 3.1 percent respectively.

But prices of coal mining went up 22.7 percent, and raw coal prices up 12.3 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2009)