This undated file photo shows citizens buying vegetables at a market in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu province. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Deflation is not evident in China at present and will not appear in the next stage, as the slow-paced growth in consumer prices is mainly time-limited, senior official said at a news conference on Tuesday.

In the next stage, the CPI is expected to stay low on an ongoing basis, which is attributable to a slower recovery on the demand side rather than the supply side after China's economy returns to normal operations

The consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.1 percent year-on-year in April. On a monthly basis, the prices were down slightly by 0.1 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday.

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The core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, was up by 0.7 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.

In the next stage, the CPI is expected to stay low on an ongoing basis, which is attributable to a slower recovery on the demand side rather than the supply side after China's economy returns to normal operations. The market demand has a limited leverage on driving up prices in short term, said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui.

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In the meanwhile, the transmission of international factors will continue, which will bring down domestic prices, he said.

wangkeju@chiandaily.com.cn