China's consumer prices showed further signs of stabilization in September, as core inflation reached its highest level in 19 months, underscoring a gradual strengthening in domestic demand.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, the core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 1 percent year-on-year, marking the fifth consecutive month of acceleration and the strongest increase since February 2024.

The headline CPI also showed a positive trend - logging a 0.1 percent month-on-month increase from a flat August and narrowing its year-on-year decline to 0.3 percent, compared with a 0.4 percent drop in August.

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Meanwhile, China has witnessed signs of improvement in industrial prices in September as the decline in its producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, continued to narrow, the bureau's data showed.

The PPI went down 2.3 percent year-on-year in September, the bureau said. The decline narrowed by 0.6 percentage points from the previous month, suggesting an improvement in industrial demand amid government efforts to bolster economic growth.

On a monthly basis, the PPI held steady in September after a 2.9 percent year-on-year decrease in August, the data revealed.

Improvements in the supply and demand structure led to a notable stabilization of prices in certain sectors in September, said NBS statistician Dong Lijuan, who added that sectors including coal processing, ferrous metals smelting and rolling manufacturing, as well as photovoltaic equipment and component manufacturing, saw price growth last month.

In September, a decline in international oil prices led to month-on-month drops in prices in domestic oil-related sectors, according to Dong.

On a yearly basis, the continued effects of China's macroeconomic policies have driven positive price changes in some industries, Dong said, highlighting the positive roles played by the building of a unified national market, the upgrading of the industrial structure and pro-consumption policies.

PPI for the first nine months of the year was 2.8 percent lower compared with the same period in 2024.