China's PPI down 1.4 pct in February

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 1.4 percent year on year in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The decrease expanded by 0.6 percentage points from that registered in January. On a monthly basis, China's PPI remained flat in February, according to the bureau.

"As industrial enterprises' production recovery accelerated and market demand improved last month, the PPI remained flat month on month," said senior NBS statistician Dong Lijuan.

"But owing to the high comparison base from the same period last year, the year-on-year decline continued," Dong said.

The PPI of the oil and gas extraction industry rose 1.7 percent month on month. Due to improved market expectations in the metals-related industry and recovering demand, the PPI of the ferrous-metal smelting and pressing industry rose 1.7 percent from January.

However, the country's stable coal production and reduced demand for heating coal led to a 2.2-percent drop in the PPI of the coal mining and washing industry last month.

The PPI of computer communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing industries declined 1.1 percent month on month, while that of the agricultural and sideline food processing industry edged down 0.3 percent from January.

Thursday's data also showed that China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 1 percent year on year in February.