China's consumer prices increased modestly in December while factory-gate prices saw a slowdown in annual declines, official data showed on Thursday.

The country's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose by 0.1 percent year-on-year in December after a 0.2 percent rise in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said. 

Within the CPI, food prices dropped 0.5 percent year-on-year in December versus a 1 percent annual growth in November. Pork, a staple in Chinese cuisine, saw prices go up by 12.5 percent in December after a 13.7 percent growth in November, while the price of fresh vegetables rose 0.5 percent in December versus a 10 percent rise in November. 

Meanwhile, non-food prices posted a 0.2 percent rise compared with a year earlier in December, contributing to a 0.14 percentage point in annual CPI growth. The decline in energy prices narrowed from 3.8 percent in November to 1.7 percent in December. Prices of gas-powered cars and new energy vehicles declined 4.7 percent and 6 percent, respectively. 

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI remained unchanged, following a 0.6 percent decline in November. 

The growth in core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of the supply-demand relationship in the economy, rose by 0.4 percent year-on-year in December after a 0.3 percent growth in November. 

Dong Lijuan, an NBS statistician, attributed the year-on-year CPI growth to the smooth functioning of the consumer market, while the factory-gate prices declined due to factors including December being the traditional offseason for production for some industries and the international commodity price fluctuations. 

China's producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, dropped by 2.3 percent from a year ago in December, narrowing from a 2.5 percent fall in November, the NBS said. 

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI dropped 0.1 percent in December after a 0.1 percent rise in November, according to the NBS. 

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