BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) - The following are the highlights of China's business news from the past week:

CPI

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.5 percent year on year in November. The growth rate, which was up from 3.8 percent in October, was the highest so far this year.

(File photo)

Food prices grew 19.1 percent year on year last month, up from 15.5 percent in October, while non-food prices gained 1 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher than that of October.

PPI

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, dropped 1.4 percent year on year in November. The reading shrank from the 1.6-percent decline in October.

On a monthly basis, the PPI decreased 0.1 percent last month, bucking the trend of the 0.1 percent increase in October.

NEW YUAN LOANS

China's new yuan-denominated loans hit 1.39 trillion yuan (197.44 billion US dollars) in November, a year-on-year rise of 138.7 billion yuan.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.2 percent year on year to 196.14 trillion yuan at the end of November.

FDI

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland expanded six percent year on year to 845.9 billion yuan in the first 11 months of the year. In US dollar terms, the FDI inflow stood at 124.4 billion dollars during the period, rising 2.6 percent year on year.

In November alone, FDI inflows came in at 93.5 billion yuan, up 1.5 percent year on year.