The pace of consumer price growth in China stabilized in February, while the increase in producer prices continued to slow down.

Consumer prices (CPI) rose 0.9% year-on-year last month, China’s State Statistics Office (SSO) said. It was the smallest rise since September last year. The result matched both the average forecast of analysts surveyed by Trading Economics and the price change in January.

Food costs collapsed 3.9% year-on-year, mainly due to a drop in pork prices. Non-food items rose 2.1%, including transportation and telecommunication services up 5.5%, clothing up 0.6%, and household goods and services up 2.5%.

The CPI rose 0.6% in February from the previous month after climbing 0.4% in January. Experts on average expected an increase of 0.3%.

Meanwhile, producer prices (PPI) in the PRC last month increased by 8.8% in annualized terms after rising by 9.1% in January. The consensus forecast called for an increase of 8.7%, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The slowdown was the fourth consecutive month of growth.

PPI in February increased by 0.5% relative to the previous month. In January, this indicator decreased by 0.2%.