China's consumer inflation quickens to 2.5%

BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, grew 2.5 percent year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The reading, in line with market expectations, accelerated from the 2.3 percent gain in March and 1.5 percent in February. On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.1 percent, compared with the 0.4 percent drop seen a month earlier.

NBS official Dong Yaxiu attributed the rise to higher prices of vegetables, pork and fruit, which rose 17.4 percent, 14.4 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively, from the same period last year due to tighter supplies.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of weighting in China's CPI, went up 6.1 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation at the factory gates, rose 0.9 percent year-on-year last month, up from the 0.4 percent gain in March that showed improving market demand.