Beijing: China`s annual consumer inflation eased to a five-year low of 1.4 percent in November from 1.6 percent in October, the lowest since November 2009, signalling persistent weakness in the world`s second-largest economy and giving policymakers more room to ease policy to support growth.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected annual consumer inflation to be 1.6 percent in November, the same as in October.
The consumer price index fell 0.2 percent in November from October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. The market had expected prices to be flat.
The producer price index in November declined 2.7 percent from a year earlier, its 33rd consecutive monthly decline, as sluggish demand curbed the pricing power of companies.
The market had expected a 2.4 percent fall in producer prices after a drop of 2.2 percent in October.
