China's factory-gate inflation cooled to its slowest pace in 14 months in May, official data showed on Friday, depressed by weak demand for steel, aluminium and other key industrial commodities due to Covid-19 curbs.

The producer price index (PPI) rose 6.4 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement, after the 8 percent rise in April, and in line with forecasts in a Reuters poll.

It was the weakest reading since March 2021.

The consumer price index (CPI) gained 2.1 percent from a year earlier in May, in line with April's growth. In a Reuters poll, the CPI was expected to rise 2.2 percent.

The world's second-largest economy has slowed significantly in recent months, and China's cabinet in late May announced a package of 33 measures covering fiscal, financial, investment and industrial policies to revive its economy. (Reuters)