China inflation slows to 3%

Chinese inflation decelerated to 3.0 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday, well under the government's target for the year. The annual rise in the consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, compared with an increase of 3.2 percent recorded in October. It was also lower than the median forecast of 3.1 percent by 11 economists in a Wall Street Journal survey reported by Dow Jones Newswires. Inflation for the first 11 months of the year came in at 2.6 percent, far below the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent. China's exports grew far more strongly than expected in November while import growth weakened, fuelling the country's biggest trade surplus in nearly five years, the government announced Sunday. Exports increased 12.7 percent year-on-year to $202.2 billion, the General Administration of Customs said. Imports were up 5.3 percent year-on-year to $168.4 billion, with the monthly trade surplus expanding to $33.8 billion from $31.1 billion in October -- the biggest since January 2009. The latest inflation and trade data came after China's economy snapped out of a first-half slump, with gross domestic product growth in the third quarter accelerating to 7.8 percent year-on-year after slowing during the first two quarters.