China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 5.3 percent in April from a year ago after hitting a 32-month high of 5.4 percent in March, statistics showed Wednesday.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures the price level at the factory gate, rose 6.8 percent in April from a year ago, down 0.5 percentage points from March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The industrial value-added output grew 13.4 percent year on year in April, according to the NBS.

The urban fixed asset investment rose 25.4 percent in the first four months over the same period last year to reach 6.2716 trillion yuan (US$965.6 billion).

In April, fixed asset investment rose 3.08 percent compared to March. During the first four months, investment in the property sector rose 34.3 percent year on year to reach 1.334 trillion yuan. Investment in residential housing hit 949.7 billion yuan, up 38.6 percent.

Retail sales of consumer goods rose 17.1 percent year-on-year in April, said the NBS.