The nation's factory gate prices fell at the fastest pace in over seven-and-a-half years in June and missed expectations, while consumer prices were unchanged.

The producer price index (PPI) fell for a ninth consecutive month, down 5.4 percent from a year earlier, marking the steepest decline since December 2015. That compared with a 4.6 percent drop the previous month, and a forecast for a five-percent fall.

The consumer price index (CPI) was unchanged year-on-year, compared with the 0.2 percent gain seen in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. That was the slowest pace since February 2021 and missed the 0.2 percent rise expected in a poll of analysts by Reuters news agency.

Momentum in China's economic recovery has slowed as manufacturing and consumer spending falters.

China last month cut policy rates to boost liquidity and vowed to take measures to promote household consumption.

Beijing has set a target for average consumer inflation in 2023 of about three percent. Prices rose two percent year-on-year in 2022. (Reuters)