China's consumer price index up 2.5% in June

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, grew 2.5 percent year-on-year in June, with the increase mainly driven by rising food prices, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

The rebound of new COVID-19 cases in Beijing and severe floods in some provinces have led to the rise of vegetable prices due to the temporary supply shortage while the reduced imports of pork as a result of stricter epidemic control measures have also caused a slight increase in pork prices, the NBS said.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.9 percent year-on-year last month, 0.2 percentage points lower than the previous month.

The country's producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, declined by 3 percent year-on-year in June, narrowing from a 3.7 percent decline in May. Looking at the month-on-month change, the PPI turned positive, up by 0.4 percent, contrasting with a 0.4 percent decline in the previous month.

The month-on-month rise of the producer prices reflected a rebound of international commodities prices, steady recovery in the domestic manufacturing sector and improved domestic demand, the NBS said.