China's consumer price index (CPI)， a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.2 percent year-on-year in November, further weakening from 5.5 percent in October mainly due to falling food prices, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.
The inflation rate in November was a 13-month low since October last year, according to the NBS data.
On a monthly basis, the cost of living dipped 0.2 percent in November,said the NBS in a statement at its website.
Taking the first 11 months together, the CPI rose 5.5 percent year-on-year in January-November, well above the government's full-year inflation control target of 4 percent.
Food prices, which account for nearly one third of the basket of goods in the nation's CPI calculation, went up 8.8 percent in November from a year earlier but dipped 0.8 percent month-on-month, according to the NBS.
Prior to the NBS announcement, many economists expected the November CPI to rise by between 4.2 percent to 4.4 percent year-on-year.
China's CPI hit a 37-month high of 6.5 percent in July this year.
China's Producer Price Index (PPI)， a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 2.7 percent in November year-on-year, indicating subsiding inflationary pressure for December.
China's inflation controlled: former statistics official
With the central government's resolute efforts, the trend of surging prices this year has been controlled, said Yao Jingyuan, the former chief economist with the National Bureau of Statistics.
This round of inflation is not yet so serious in its time span, said Yao at the annual session of the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce, which was held on Thursday in Shenzhen, in Guangdong province.
