China Reports Stable Economic Operation for January 　　China's economy remained stable throughout January with industrial production and sales volume increasing, according to a report released earlier by the National Bureau of Statistics. 　　The month's total industrial value added reached RMB$150.9 billion yuan countrywide, up eight percent over the same period last year in terms of per day output, noted the Bureau. 　　State-owned firms, the mainstay of the country's industrial sector, achieved an added value of RMB$84.7 billion yuan, up 6.2 percent on a year-on-year basis, the report said. 　　The Bureau noted that 92.91 percent of products manufactured last month had been sold out, bringing the sales/production ratio up 1.31 percentage points. 　　Total retail sales reached RMB$266.2 billion yuan in January, increasing by nine percent in real terms. 　　Inflation was kept low during the month, with the consumer price index decreasing by 1.2 percent and the retail price index down 2.8 percent over the same period last year. 　　Despite the bright outlook the country was still suffering from a downward export trend, said the Bureau, adding that imports had gone up again rapidly. 　　Figures from the Customs show that in January the country fulfilled a foreign trade volume of 21.29 billion U.S. dollars, down 0.8 percent over last year's same period, in which, exports decreased by 10.8 percent to 11.39 billion dollars, and imports increased by 13.9 percent to reach 9.9 billion dollars. Economicnews 1999-02-14 Page1 Full Story in Chinese