China's efforts to cool its economy are paying off

The unofficial figure for May, circulated early last month, was that consumer prices were 4.5 percent higher than a year earlier. The final figure published was 4.4 percent.

Inflation at the consumer level, based on the prices of a collection of goods that the Chinese government has never disclosed, receives broad attention in China. The published figures have not kept up with inflation in producer prices, which are climbing at close to 10 percent a year, according to official figures.