(Yicai) Feb. 8 -- China’s consumer prices fell for the fourth month in a row in January, largely due to a high comparative base caused by the Chinese New Year celebrations in that month last year. On a monthly basis prices climbed, suggesting a rebound in consumer confidence.

The consumer price index, the main measure of inflation, dipped 0.8 percent in January from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed today. In December it fell 0.3 percent.

The CPI rose 0.3 percent from December, marking a second straight month of gains, as consumer spending increases and thanks to the three-day New Year holiday, the NBS said.

Consumer prices usually rise in the month that Chinese New Year falls, Zheshang Securities pointed out. Last year, the lunar new year break was in late January, whereas this year it is in February, resulting in a steeper year-on-year decline this January, the brokerage said.

Because the Spring Festival, as the Chinese New Year is known in China, is in February this year, the CPI should return to positive territory this month, possibly expanding by 0.5 percent from a year ago, according to rating agency Golden Credit Rating.

Consumer inflation is expected to grow by 1.3 percent this year, up from last year’s 0.2 percent, Golden Credit said, helped by the real estate sector dragging less on consumer confidence, the stabilization of international crude oil prices, and a slower drop in inflation in developed nations.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, advanced 0.3 percent in January from December, in line with the average growth rate for the month over the past decade, NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said. On a yearly basis, the core CPI rose 0.4 percent, maintaining a modest clip, she added.

Prices are steady as a whole, with neither inflation nor deflation, despite high inflation worldwide, Pan Gongsheng, governor at the People's Bank of China, said recently.

Global financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, expect China's consumer inflation to gain slightly this year thanks to a sustained increase in domestic demand and changes in prices overseas.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Kim Taylor