China February Inflation Steadies, Factory Output Jumps

China's headline consumer price inflation steadied at 4.9 percent in the year to February, the same as January, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.

China's industrial output in the first two months of 2011 rose 14.1 percent year-on-year from a 13.5 percent pace in December. 

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 4.7 percent rise  in the consumer price index and a 13.3 percent rise in industrial output. 

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.2 percent in February from the previous month, after a 1.0 percent month-on-month rise in January. This figure was not seasonally adjusted.

Giving a more detailed breakdown of CPI, the NBS said food  prices rose 11.0 percent in the year to February, with non-food prices up 2.3 percent.

In month-on-month terms, food prices rose 3.7 percent, while non-food prices were up 0.1 percent.

The producer price index rose 7.2 percent in the year to February and was up 0.8 percent month on month.