Favorable conditions keep prices stable in China

BEIJING: China can keep consumer prices within a reasonable range despite soaring inflationary pressures worldwide and food-price fluctuations in the near term, officials and analysts say.

The East Asian country's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.7 percent year on year in July. Its producer price index, which measures the costs of goods at the factory gate, climbed 4.2 percent from a year earlier.