China's producer price index (PPI) rose 5.8 percent in February year-on-year, and the rise was 0.4 percentage points less than in January, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

A NBS report released Thursday said the purchase price of raw materials, fuel and power jumped up 9.8 percent year-on-year, 1 percentage point less than January.

PPI for means of production was up 7.2 percent in January compared with the same period last year, leading to an overall increase of 5.3 percent in PPI. PPI for means of livelihood rose 0.4 percent, leading to a rise of 0.1 percentage point in PPI.

According to the report, the prices for crude oil and oil products saw an obvious increase in February. The PPI for crude oil rose 22.4 percent year-on-year, leading the overall PPI up 0.7 percentage points.

The prices of coal products rose steadily in February. PPI for the sector of coal mining and dressing grew 26.5 percent year-on-year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2005)