Consumer price index CPI Photo: CFP

China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, edged up by 0.2 percent year-on-year in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday, indicating a moderate rise amid sufficient market supply.

"In June, the supply in the consumer market was generally sufficient. The national CPI experienced a seasonal month-on-month decline, while it continued to rise year-on-year," said Dong Lijuan, a statistician from the NBS.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core CPI increased by 0.6 percent year-on-year, maintaining the same rate as the previous month, Dong noted.

On a monthly basis, CPI recorded a 0.2-percent monthly decline from May. More seasonal fruit, vegetables and aquatic products flooded the market, which contributed to the month-on-month decrease in the CPI by approximately 0.25 percentage point, Dong said.

Boosted by the series of promotional campaigns -- such as the "June-18" online shopping festival, the market prices of cars, household appliances, and recreational consumer goods dropped by 0.8-1.3 percent, she said.

Notably, the travel peak during the summer holidays lifted the price for transportation by 6.4 percent, and air ticket prices was up by 2.5 percent year-on-year.

From January to June, the CPI saw 0.2 percent year-on-year increase on average. Food prices fell by 2.1 percent due to sufficient market supply, while prices in the non-food products rose by 0.8 percent, the same as in May.

In terms of producer price index (PPI), the gauge of manufacturing sector inflation, Dong said that, influenced by fluctuations in international commodity prices and insufficient market demand for some domestic industrial products, the PPI declined by 0.2 percent month-on-month in June, while the year-on-year decline was recorded at 0.8 percent.

China has rolled out a number of measures to accelerate domestic consumption, such as stimulating purchase of auto vehicles, boosting the trade-in of durable consumption items, and large-scale industrial equipment renewal.

China's Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance and five other government departments issued action plans for auto renewal and trade-ins of electric appliances in April to promote retail sales.

Global Times