In this file photo, a consumer buys vegetables at a grocery store in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, on Feb 6, 2020. (LIU XU / FOR CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, dipped 0.5 percent year on year in November as pork prices further declined, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Wednesday.

In the first 11 months, the country's CPI rose 2.7 percent from the same period a year earlier, staying within the government's annual target of around 3.5 percent.

In the first 11 months, the country's CPI rose 2.7 percent from the same period a year earlier, staying within the government's annual target of around 3.5 percent

The CPI edged down 0.6 percent on a monthly basis, compared with the 0.3-percent drop registered in October.

Food prices fell 2 percent year on year last month, reversing the 2.2-percent increase in October and contributing about 0.44 percentage points to the CPI drop, said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.

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Dong said the weakening food prices were the main factor that dragged the country's CPI into negative territory.

In breakdown, pork prices plunged 12.5 percent from a year earlier, exceeding the October decline by 9.7 percentage points. The prices of eggs, chicken and duck saw widening year-on-year drops in November, while those of vegetables and fruits climbed 8.6 percent and 3.6 percent year on year respectively in November.

Wednesday's data also showed China's producer prices saw a narrowed decline in November amid a steady recovery in industrial activities.

READ MORE: Consumer inflation slows to 19-month low of 1.7%

The producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 1.5 percent year on year in November, following a 2.1-percent drop in October..

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Among the 40 surveyed industrial sectors, 24 saw prices rise month on month in November, up from 12 sectors seen in October.

Affected by upward international prices of crude oil, the sub-index for the oil and gas extraction industry edged up 0.9 percent from the previous month, according to the NBS.

With increasing demand for winter heating, the PPI for coal mining as well as gas production and supply sectors rose 2.2 percent and 2.8 percent month on month, respectively.

In the first 11 months, the PPI went down 2 percent on average from the same period last year, NBS data showed.

READ MORE: Consumer inflation slows to 19-month low of 1.7%