IN BRIEF

May CPI up 1.5% as expected

China's consumer inflation in May increased 1.5 percent year-on-year, in line with market expectations, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. The consumer price index was projected by analysts to rise 1.5 percent, compared with April's 1.2 percent gain. The producer price index rose 5.5 percent in May from a year earlier, cooling for the third consecutive month. In April, factory gate prices rose 6.4 percent from a year ago, slowing from the previous month, driven by persistent declines in iron ore and coal prices amid concerns over cooling demand.

Mega tech expo opens its doors

The 20th China Beijing International High-tech Expo opened on Thursday, with the latest homegrown technology in space exploration, aviation and information technology on display. Covering 45,000 square meters, the expo consists of 13 display areas. It features over 1,400 companies, universities and research institutions that are exhibiting technology and products ranging from personal companion robots to a pocket selfie drone and a 3D chocolate printer. The expo has been held each year in Beijing since 1998. It was initially designed to expose China to advanced technology from around the world. International companies were the stars of the show in its early years.

Coal liquefaction plant work starts

Construction work has begun on a huge coal-to-liquid project that when operational will produce more than 2 million metric tons of oil products in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, officials said. The coal liquefaction project is located in Zhungeer banner in the city of Ordos. It is operated by Inner Mongolia Yitai Group Co Ltd, a private company. At a cost of 29 billion yuan ($4.2 billion), it is expected to produce 2.15 million tons of oil products each year, including diesel, naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas.