China said Friday its closely watched inflation rate dipped slightly in September, but analysts said it was unlikely to ease tight credit policies on fears surging prices may cause social unrest.

The 6.1 percent year-on-year rise in the consumer price index (CPI) for September marks only a marginal slowdown from 6.2 percent in August.

Stubbornly high inflation has persisted despite government moves to rein in soaring food and housing prices, which officials fear could cause social unrest as citizens grow angry at higher costs.

Inflation peaked in July, hitting a more than three-year high of 6.5 percent, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

In August, thousands of taxi drivers went on strike in the eastern tourism hub of Hangzhou to protest high fuel costs and other grievances.

China has already implemented a number of policies over the past year to try to slow the rise in prices, including restricting the amount of money banks can lend and hiking interest rates five times since October last year.

"This confirms inflation will follow a downward trend in the fourth quarter. But in the long term, inflation will stay at high levels," Zhang Zhiwei, Hong Kong-based economist with Nomura Securities, told AFP.

The slight slowdown in inflation in September is unlikely to convince the government to radically loosen its tight credit policy, at least in the short-term, analysts said.

"Tightening of monetary policy and growth moderation have ensured that inflation is now in retreat," Alistair Thornton, China analyst at Global Economics, said in a report.

But he added: "For the moment, we remain in policy stasis -- no more tightening, but no real loosening."

The key food component of inflation rose 13.4 percent year-on-year in September, unchanged from the August level, the statistics bureau said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said just last month that he "cannot relax" due to soaring prices in China that have led to steep rises in the cost of food, as he vowed to step up the fight against inflation.

Food prices are of particular concern, as they affect the daily lives of everyone in the country, with foodstuffs accounting for more than one-third of the monthly spending of the average Chinese consumer.

Alaistair Chan, an economist at Moody's Analytics in Sydney, said food prices could moderate in coming months -- helped by greater pork supply and a good grain harvest -- which would help lower overall inflation.

Separately, the producer price index -- a measure of inflation at the wholesale level -- rose 6.5 percent year on year in September, slowing from a 7.3 percent rise in August, the statistics bureau said.

The government had originally set a goal of 4.0 percent for overall inflation in 2011, but officials have already admitted it will be difficult to keep CPI within that target.

Nomura Securities forecasts inflation will be around 5.0 percent for all of 2011.

Chinese investors reacted negatively to Friday's announcement, sending the key Shanghai stock index down 0.67 percent in afternoon trade.

"The market is still worried about inflation since a 6.1 percent increase in CPI indicates inflation remains high," Lang Qi, an analyst at China Fortune Securities, told AFP.