Chinese consumer prices unexpectedly flat

China's consumer prices remained stable, below expectations. Inflation in China was unexpectedly stable in September due to a high base effect. The consumer price index was unchanged in September from the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday. Annual inflation in August was 0.1 percent. Economists had forecast consumer prices to rise 0.2 percent. Food prices fell 3.2 percent year-on-year in September, compared with a 1.7 percent drop in August. The statistics bureau said food prices and headline consumer prices were overshadowed by the high bases from a year ago. The bureau said pork and fresh vegetable prices fell 22.0 percent and 6.4 percent year-on-year in September, respectively, accounting for about 90 percent of the decline in overall food prices. China's producer price index fell 2.5 percent from a year earlier. It had fallen 3 percent in August. Economists had expected a 2.4 percent drop.