Inflation in China is slowing down, according to government statistics released last week.  But while economists have greeted the news as a sign of easier times ahead, many in China remain wary.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported last Thursday that the December consumer price index (CPI) had increased 4.1 percent from the previous year, the lowest rise in 15 months.

Many observers abroad saw the news as allowing Beijing more leeway in making monetary policy and addressing other economic concerns.

“The easing inflation pressure is good news and provides further room for policymakers to shift their focus towards growth concerns,” said analysts at JP Morgan Chase, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

“The inflation story will move out of the limelight this year,” predicted analysts at IHS Global Insight.

But for now, inflation remains center stage.  The new CPI figures made headlines across China, and though many newspapers agreed that the slowdown was a reason for optimism, others warned consumers of continued hard times ahead.

A shopper inspects prices at a market in Anhui province. Pic: AP

“Last December’s CPI is the lowest in 15 months,” reported Tianjin’s Chengshi Kuaibao.  Similar headlines appeared on front pages throughout the country.

Xibu Shangbao, an economic paper in western Gansu province, was even more hopeful.  “The price of goods recedes, becomes the dominant trend,” read the bold yellow headline, superimposed over a photo of a woman walking through a supermarket filled with colorful packages of food.

The news received a more pessimistic spin in several morning tabloids, which emphasized the continued burden faced by consumers.

In Yantai, a coastal city in Shandong province, the newspaper Jinchen Liudian ran the headline “CPI rises” in large red characters, accompanied by an image of a basket of goods being lifted in the air by balloon.  An infographic showed the particular inflation of various goods, from  cigarettes to housing.

The headline of Anhui’s Jianghuai Chenbao was a single word: “Inflation.” Below was a cartoon of a young man struggling to carry a basket of goods over a red arrow rising above the letters “CPI.”

Front page of Jianghuai Chenbao, Jan. 13 Pic: abbao.cn

The CPI report was given little coverage in Communist Party newspapers, which devoted most of their attention to the meetings of local city legislatures now in session.

But the economic news made the front page of Wuhan’s official Changjiang Daily.  The paper reported that the inflation rate for all of 2011 stood at 5.4 percent, while Wuhan’s inflation rate was 5.2 percent.

The newspaper also noted that food prices had risen by over nine percent.