RPI in sharp drop

The retail price index (RPI) slipped 1.8 per cent year on year last month, the sharpest drop in 19 months, according to the State Statistical Bureau. The figures showed China's RPI fell an annual 0.8 per cent last year. China has said its broader benchmark consumer price index, which includes services, fell a year-on-year 0.3 per cent last month. CPI rose just 0.7 per cent year on year last year. Analysts say slowing export growth had fuelled deflationary pressures but some government officials have also attributed weak prices to falling currencies in other countries. China's exports rose an annual 6.8 per cent last year.