China's inflation fell to 2.5 percent in December from 3 percent in November and 3.2 percent in October, UPI quoted the National Bureau of Statistics as announcing Thursday. For all of 2013, the consumer price index, China's main gauge of inflation, rose 2.6 percent from 2012, but was far below the government's target of 3.5 percent for 2013. Food prices, which account for a third of the CPI index, have been the main reason for the fluctuations in the CPI. With inflation remaining well under control, the country's policymakers should have more flexibility to implement long-awaited financial reforms even as they try to keep growth going. China's economic growth had been slowing last year as indicated by the latest data such as the purchasing managers' index both in manufacturing and non-manufacturing. The PMI for the manufacturing sector, a key measure of factory output, fell to 51 percent in December from November's 51.4 percent, the first such decline since June. Any number over 50 on the PMI index denotes expansion while any number below that denotes contraction.
