Hebei saw good growth in its consumer price index (CPI) in the first seven months, somewhat higher level got than other costal parts of China, a monthly monitoring report from the Hebei Economic Information Center, has shown, with a rise of 3.1 percent year-on-year.

The index reading put it in first place among the major areas covered by the survey -- Liaoning, Shandong, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces the cities of Tianjin and Shanghai.

But, when compared with other parts of northern China, Hebei's CPI is lower than, for example, the nearby city of Beijing and the Inner Mongolia region, but still higher than that Shanxi and Henan provinces.

In exports, according to the report, Hebei saw a large gap between it and other major coastal areas, coming in, in last place, in the same time period.

Total value of imports and exports in the province amounted to $31.4 billion for the period, up 6.8 percent year-on-year, with exports increasing 3.7 percent, or 2.1 percent more than for the first half and, with export growth putting it at fifth place, among major coastal provinces.

Hebei was also weaker in foreign trade than other major coastal areas, excluding Tianjin, which didn't make the list because of insufficient data. Out of eight provinces, Hebei came in last in exports, with weak strength in overseas sales.

Hebei did have stable economic growth in the first half, with a GDP of 1.32 trillion yuan ($215 million), an increase of 8.7 percent and higher than that of the city of Beijing and Henan province.