Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said inflation may slow further during the summer as food prices ease.

"We anticipate that in summer, because of a good harvest and some supply-side policy, inflation, especially food inflation, could slow down a little bit," Zhou told reporters yesterday in Basel, Switzerland, where he's attending a meeting of the Bank for International Settlements. "However, we know that international prices of energy and other commodities may put additional pressure on inflation."

China's consumer price index rose 7.7 percent in May from a year earlier, down from February's 12-year peak of 8.7 percent as food costs cooled. Producer prices jumped 8.2 percent, the fastest pace in more than three years, on higher energy and raw material costs, Bloomberg News said.

(Shanghai Daily June 30, 2008)