IN BRIEF (Page 6)

May CPI up 1.5% as expected

China's consumer inflation in May increased 1.5 percent year-on-year, in line with market expectations, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. The consumer price index was projected by analysts to rise 1.5 percent, compared with April's 1.2 percent gain. The producer price index rose 5.5 percent in May from a year earlier, cooling for the third consecutive month. In April, factory gate prices rose 6.4 percent from a year ago, slowing from the previous month, driven by persistent declines in iron ore and coal prices amid concerns over cooling demand.

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