The General Statistics Office says that the sharp increase in September made average CPI over the past nine month 7.64 percent higher than CPI over the same period last year.

The rise was partly due to high consumer demand during the celebration of National Day, the fifteenth day of Lunar July and the first day of the new school year. Another factor is that most schools and vocational training centres raised their school fees for the 2009-2010 academic year. Also increasing credit and higher real estate prices in big cities drove the housing index up by more than 20 percent.