Beijing: China’s consumer prices fell at the fastest annual rate in 15 years in January, missing analysts’ forecasts and underlining the challenges for policymakers trying to revive investor confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. The country’s consumer price index fell 0.8 percent year on year in January, according to official statistics released on Thursday, the fourth straight month of declines and the biggest contraction since 2009. The fall, which was steeper than a 0.5 percent drop forecast by a Reuters poll of analysts and a 0.3 percent decline in December, comes as China’s economy contends with an extended property sector slump, a stock market meltdown and weaker export revenue. “A multitude of indicators are now flashing red, signalling a perilous…
