China's CPI up for 4th straight month in January

China's consumer prices rose for a fourth consecutive month in January, while the decline in factory-gate prices narrowed, official data showed on Wednesday.

The country's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose by 0.2 percent year-on-year in January, easing from a 0.8 percent rise in December, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

"In January, consumer demand continued to recover," said Dong Lijuan, chief statistician at NBS.?

Dong attributed the moderate year-on-year CPI growth to the timing shift of the Spring Festival holiday, which falls in February this year compared to January last year, creating a higher comparison base. A sharper decline in energy prices, driven by fluctuations in international oil prices, also affected the CPI growth rate.

NBS data showed food prices declined 0.7 percent year-on-year in January, trimming around 0.11 percentage points off CPI growth.

Within the category, fresh vegetable and fresh fruit prices rose by 6.9 percent and 3.2 percent in January, respectively, both with smaller increases. Pork and egg prices fell by 13.7 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.

In January, energy prices declined by 5 percent year-on-year, dragging the CPI down by around 0.34 percentage points.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased 0.2 percent in January, unchanged from December, the NBS data showed.

The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of supply-demand conditions, rose by 0.8 percent year-on-year in January, down from 1.2 percent in December.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index, which measures factory-gate prices, fell by 1.4 percent year-on-year in January, narrowing from a 1.9 percent dip in December, according to the NBS.

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI increased by 0.4 percent in January, accelerating from a 0.2 percent rise in December, NBS data showed.