China's CPI up 1.5 pct in January

BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.5 percent year on year in January, lifted by a rise in non-food and service prices.

The rate was down from December's 1.8 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Friday.

On a monthly basis, the index was up 0.6 percent, higher than the 0.3-percent in the previous month.

NBS statistician Sheng Guoqing attributed the growth mainly to rising non-food and service prices, which climbed 2 percent and 2.3 percent year on year, respectively.