China Reports Price Drop Last Year ����The retail price index and the consumer price index in China last year slipped by 2.6% and 0.8%, respectively, from 1997, according to the State Development Planning Commission and the National Statistics Bureau. ����Although last December saw a 0.2% rise in the retail price index over November, the figure was still 2.7% lower than that of the same month in 1997. ����The consumer price index in December edged up 0.2% over the previous month, but still down 1% when compared with the corresponding month in 1997. ���� Economicnews 1999-01-14 Page2 Full Story in Chinese