China's Producer Price Inflation Cools to Three-Month Low in July

China's producer price inflation cooled to a three-month low in July, while consumer inflation also eased, according to official data released on Sunday. The producer price index (PPI) rose 3.5% from a year earlier, below economists' expectations of 3.8%, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.

The core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile costs for food and energy, rose 0.9% year-over-year, while food prices fell 1.5%. Overall annual inflation eased to a six-month low of 0.5%, data showed.

Lower oil prices and weakening demand contributed to the decline in both consumer and producer price inflation, according to Zhaopeng Xing, ANZ's senior China strategist.