Residents buy vegetables at a newly opened supermarket near the Xinfadi market in Beijing, China, on Aug 15, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's consumer inflation eased in August as economic activities gradually recovered after effective epidemic containment in the country, official data showed Wednesday.

China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, grew 2.4 percent year-on year last month, moderating from the 2.7-percent gain in July, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Food prices remained the main driver of consumer inflation in August, rising 11.2% year-on-year and contributing 2.33 percentage points to the growth of CPI

On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.4 percent. Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of weighting in China's CPI, climbed 1.4 percent last month.

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In breakdown, pork prices climbed 1.2 percent over rising demand in spite of increased supplies, and vegetable prices hiked 6.4 percent from July as high temperatures and heavy rainfall affected supplies.

Food prices remained the main driver of consumer inflation in August, rising 11.2 percent year-on-year and contributing 2.33 percentage points to the growth of CPI.

In the first eight months of this year, CPI went up 3.5 percent year-on-year on average.

PPI down 2%

Meanwhile, China's producer price deflation continued to ease in August amid a recovery in industrial activities and market demand, NBS data showed.

China's producer price deflation continued to ease in August amid a recovery in industrial activities and market demand, NBS data showed

The producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 2 percent year-on-year, according to NBS. The reading narrowed from the 2.4-percent drop in July.

The PPI climbed 0.3 percent month-on-month in August, the data showed.

READ MORE: China's factory deflation slows in July as recovery gains strength

NBS senior statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the rise to the continuous expansion in industrial production and recovering market demand.

"International prices of commodities such as crude oil, iron ores, nonferrous metals extended their upward momentum, leading to price increases for domestic industrial products," Dong said.

Producer prices in oil and natural gas extraction gained 3.6 percent month-on-month, but the growth was milder than in July. Prices in the ferrous metal mining and dressing sector went up 4.3 percent, while prices in nonferrous metal smelting and rolling rose 3 percent.

In the Jan-Aug period, the PPI declined 2 percent on average from a year earlier, according to the data.