Figures released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday showed that China's consumer confidence index (CCI) shrank slightly in September amid the global slow-down in economic growth.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 9.9 percent year on year in the first three quarters of this year. The growth rate was 2.3 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

The CCI fell 0.3 points in September from August to 93.4, said the NBS.

Dong Xian'an, a domestic Southwest Securities analyst, said although the country's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, eased to 4.6 percent in September year on year, consumption activity was still weak as consumers did not have a clear forecast for their future income.

The country's CPI hit a 12-year high of 8.7 percent year-on-year surge in February.

The CCI, which measures consumers' opinions on employment, the economy, regular income and quality of life, was released in sync with the macro- economy early warning index which stood at 105.3 points in September, 2.7 points lower than August, dropping for four straight months.

Of the 10 component indexes of the early warning index, six, namely industrial production, fixed assets investment, import and export volume, profit of industrial enterprises, various loans of financial institutions, M2 and urban residents consumption were in the stable "green light zone" in September.

Consumer retail sales and disposable income of urban residents were in the slightly-heated "yellow light zone", while the fiscal revenue was in the slightly-frigid "blue light zone".

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2008)