The output of China's large industrial enterprises grew 14.7 percent in October, down 1.4 percentage points from both September and the same period of last year.

 

The figures released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics in its monthly update show China's industrial output growth fell for four consecutive months from a ten-year high of 19.5 percent in June.

 

Analysts said the slowdown in industrial production helped cool China's economy which surged to 11.3 percent in the second quarter and then slowed to 10.7 percent for the first nine months.

 

Large industrial enterprises with a sales revenue higher than five million yuan generated a total output of nearly seven trillion yuan from January to October, up 16.9 percent year-on-year.

 

About 98.44 percent of their production was sold in October, up 0.61 of a percentage point over the same period last year. Their exports generated a total value of 539.7 billion yuan, up 22.2 percent.

 

In a separate release on Monday, the administration said China's consumer price index (CPI), the key inflation index, rose 1.3 percent in the first nine months, 0.7 of a percentage lower than the same period last year.

 

Despite the lower CPI and slower industrial production growth, China's central bank still warned against inflationary pressures.

 

The People's Bank of China noted in its latest quarterly update on currency policy that the prices for certain consumer goods and production materials risked rising in the future.

 

"Generally China's consumer goods would be in oversupply in the future," it said.

 

As China accelerated pricing reform on energy products to facilitate more rational utilization of resources, prices of water, electricity, oil and gas would "continue to rise".

 

In October, China produced 187 million tons of raw coal, up 14.6 percent from the same month last year, and 15.5 million tons of crude oil, up 0.6 percent. The output of steel stood at 41.59 million tons, a rise of 23.4 percent.

 

The central bank predicted economic growth may slow down in the fourth quarter due to the macro-control policies and global economic environment. But the 2006 economic growth will still be above 10 percent.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 15, 2006)