The producer price index (PPI) for China's industrial products rose 10.1 percent year on year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.

The double-digit growth of PPI, which measures the value of finished products when they leave the factory, was the highest since 1996.

The country's PPI surged 10 percent in July year on year and stood at 7.6 percent in the first half, according to the NBS.

The purchaser prices for raw materials, fuel and power jumped 15.3 year on year in August, compared with 15.4 percent in July.

The PPI of capital goods rose 12.0 percent year on year, 0.3 percentage points higher than July this year, the NBS said in its latest monthly report.

The PPI of the mining sector was up 35.1 percent in August on a year-on-year basis, that of the raw materials sector went up 14.4 percent, and that of the processing sector up 7.9 percent.

The PPI of crude oil went up 38.2 percent in August, with a 3 percentage points drop from the previous month.

The PPI of consumer goods gained 4 percent last month, and the price index of food rose 7.4 percent, compared with the increase rate of 2.4 percent for garments and 4.3 percent for daily commodities. The PPI of durable consumer goods dropped 0.4 percent in August.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)