On January 9, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, had grown 2.5 percent year on year in December, and 2.6 percent for the whole of 2013, well below the government's full-year limit of 3.5 percent.

December's CPI was 0.5 percentage points lower than the previous month, according to the NBS.

December's inflation was 2.5 percent in both cities and rural areas. Food prices, which account for roughly a third of the CPI, rose 4.1 percent in December compared to a year ago, while other products edged up by 1.7 percent.

On a month-to-month basis, December's CPI edged up slightly by 0.3 percent from November. Food prices increased 0.6 percent from November while prices of other products increased 0.1 percent, according to the NBS.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.4 percent year on year in December. The NBS data showed that annualized PPI for 2013 fell 1.9 percent year on year.