China May inflation edges down to 1.2 pct

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 1.2 percent year on year in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. The reading fell from 1.5 percent posted in April. On a monthly basis, consumer prices in May slipped 0.2 percent, unchanged from the 0.2-percent drop recorded in April. Falling prices of vegetables, fruits and eggs due to seasonal factors were the main cause of the CPI decline last month, NBS statistician Yu Qiumei said. China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.4 percent in 2014, the weakest annual expansion in 24 years. GDP growth in the first quarter of the year eased to 7 percent. China targets an annual economic growth rate of around 7 percent for the year and aims to keep inflation at around 3 percent.