China's consumer price index up 4.3% in March

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.3 percent year-on-year in March, down from 5.2 percent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

On a monthly basis, the CPI dropped by 1.2 percent last month, versus a 0.8 percent rise in February, pointing to easing inflationary pressure, according to the NBS.

Dong Lijuan, a senior NBS statistician, mainly attributed the softened CPI figures to a slower rise in food prices as supply recovered.

"In March, the resumption of work and production accelerated while transportation and logistics recovered. Measures to ensure supply and stabilize price levels were stepped up," Dong said.

Food prices rose by 18.3 percent year-on-year last month, down by 3.6 percentage points from a month earlier, the NBS reported.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 1.2 percent year-on-year in March, up from 1.0 percent in the previous month, indicating recovering domestic demand.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index declined 1.5 percent year-on-year last month amid dropping prices of bulk commodities such as crude oil in the international markets, the bureau said.