China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, was up 0.1 percent year on year in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.

The reading was an improvement on the 0.1 percent fall seen in May and beat the 0.1 percent drop forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

On a monthly basis, the index dipped 0.1 percent in June.

The index in urban regions rose 0.1 percent while that in the rural regions was down 0.2 percent.

In the first half of 2025, the country's consumer prices posted a 0.1-percent decline compared with the same period last year.

Factory gate prices, meanwhile, fell in June at the fastest rate in nearly two years in a signal of further deflationary pressure.

The producer price index declined 3.6 percent, accelerating from a 3.3 percent drop in May. (Xinhua/AFP)