8. Consumer price index

Prices remained stable, with the consumer price index rising moderately by 2.2 percent year-on-year for the first half of this year. CPI, a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.7 percent year-on-year in June. On a monthly basis, the reading edged down 0.1 percent.

Vegetable prices registered slower growth, while the growth of fruit prices is expected to narrow, said Liu Xuezhi, a senior researcher with the Bank of Communications' Financial Research Center. Except for pork prices, other factors that drive up CPI have a relatively weak effect, Liu said, adding that there will be no obvious inflationary pressures during the second half of this year.