China's consumer inflation up 1.4% in July

A woman chooses canned food at a supermarket in Qingdao, Shandong province, Sep 9, 2016.[Photo/For China Daily]

BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a gauge of inflation, rose 1.4 percent year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

It was slightly down from June's 1.5 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the index was up 0.1 percent, according to the bureau.

Consumer inflation was generally stable in July. Food prices, the biggest component of the CPI, were down 0.1 percent, the NBS said.

Vegetable prices rose 7 percent after declining for five straight months as scorching summer and heavy rain restricted output. Fruit prices shed 9.2 percent due to oversupply. Pork prices declined 0.7 percent as consumption fell in summer.

Year-on-year, food prices dropped 1.1 percent in July, while non-food prices rose 2 percent.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI increased 2.1 percent year-on-year in July.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 5.5 percent year-on-year in July, according to the NBS.

It was unchanged from the previous two months. On a month-on-month basis, the index was up 0.2 percent.