AFTER rising for seven consecutive trading days, Chinese shares declined 1.75 percent today as caution returns upon the release of official economic statistics.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.75 percent, or 45.9 points, to close at 2579.75. The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 3.09 percent, or 314.27 points, to 9868.79.

China's consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI), the main gauge of inflation at retail and wholesale level, fell 1.5 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, year on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said today.