【明報專訊】THE National Bureau of Statistics said that, in June, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.2 percent year-on-year, down by as much as 0.8 percent compared to May, marking a new low in two and a half years. At the same time, the Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped 2.1 percent year-on-year, down by 0.7 per cent compared to May, marking the fourth straight month of producer price deflation since March. Many mainland economists expect that in the near future the CPI will continue to go down, and may fall below 2 percent next month. Some are worried that China may follow in Japan's footsteps and slip into a deflationary spiral after the burst of a bubble economy.