China's consumer inflation is set to ease further in coming months, thanks to declining food and oil prices, according to a National Bureau of Statistics report published on Tuesday.

The report, published in the China Information News, the bureau's newspaper, did not provide a detailed forecast, but it said an increasing supply of fresh food at home and lower oil prices abroad would help China to control inflation.

The consumer price index has eased for three months in a row to an annual increase of 6.3 percent in July from a decade-high of 8.7 percent in February.

China's target for 2008 is to average 4.8 percent in consumer inflation for the full year.

(Agencies via China Daily September 2, 2008)