China's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose four percent year on year in October.

The figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, was down 0.6 percent from that of September and it has dropped for six consecutive months.

Qi Jingmei, a senior researcher with the State Information Centre, attributes the decline to the government's macroeconomic controls in dealing with the rapid rise of the CPI in the first half of the year.

She adds the drop in food prices also contributed to the decline of October's CPI.

"We received good grain harvests in summer and autumn. This is the most important factor in stabilising staple food prices, and finally led to a drop in the CPI.

Meanwhile, global food prices dropped dramatically after the hike in the first half. It also gradually lowered the domestic food prices."

Qi Jingmei says she remains optimistic about the CPI in the upcoming two months.

"I think the CPI in the fourth quarter will continue to decline. It will ease pressure on the government to beat inflation, and shift the focus from macro-economic control to sustaining economic growth."

The average CPI in the first 10 months of 2008 rose 6.7 percent year on year, higher than the yearly goal of 4.8 percent.