China's producer price index (PPI), gauging the cost of goods at the factory gate, fell 2.8% year on year in March, with the decline expanding from 2.7% from a month ago, showed data from the National Bureau of Statistics on April 11.
On a month-on-month basis, the index dropped 0.1%, compared with a 0.2% fall in February.
The decline, marked the 18th consecutive month of decline, was mainly due to sufficient supply of industrial products amid the resumption of industrial production after the Spring Festival holiday, said Dong Lijuan, senior statistician of NBS.
For the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the level of inflation, rose 0.1% year on year in March, against a 0.7% rise in February. The index, however, fell 1.0% month on month.
This suggests another low level of consumer inflation in March amid the ongoing property weakness, which eroded consumers' willingness to spend.
But according to Dong, the slower CPI growth was mainly due to declining post-holiday demand and a well-stocked market.
The growth in core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of the supply-demand situation, rose by 0.6% YoY in March after a 1.2% rise in February.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
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