China's inflation eased slightly in April as warming weather led to a drop in food prices, building up confidence that the government's annual targets set for the area could be met.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.4 percent year on year in April, according to new data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.

The growth eased slightly from the 3.6-percent rate registered in March. It hit a 20-month low of 3.2 percent in February.

The Chinese government is aiming to keep CPI increases to around 4 percent.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, increased 7 percent last month from one year earlier. The growth compared to the 7.5-percent rate registered in March.

On a monthly basis, food prices dropped 0.9 percent from March, the NBS said.

Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed that despite a small rebound at the end of April, farm produce prices continued falling in the month, with prices of vegetables and pork significantly down.

Meanwhile, China's Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7 percent in April from a year earlier.

The data marked another month of decline yea on year after China's PPI saw a drop in March for the first time since December 2009, NBS data showed.

The country's CPI climbed 3.8 percent in the first quarter of 2012compared with the previous year. On a monthly basis, the CPI edged down 0.1 percent in April, the NBS added.

China PPI down 0.7% in April

China's Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 0.7 percent in April from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The data marked another month of year-on-year decline after China's PPI saw a drop in March for the first time since December 2009, NBS data showed.

China's retail sales up 14.1% in April

China's retail sales grew 14.1 percent year on year to 1.56 trillion yuan (247.8 billion U.S. dollars) in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

After deducting inflation, retail sales growth in real terms was 10.7 percent in April and on a monthly basis, sales went up 1.13 percent.

For the first four months of the year, retail sales rose 14.7 percent to 6.49 trillion yuan.

China's fixed-asset investment up 20.2% in January-April

China's urban fixed-asset investment rose 20.2 percent year on year to 7.5592 trillion yuan (1.2 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first four months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

Investment in property development increased 18.7 percent from a year earlier, the NBS said.

China's industrial value-added output up 9.3% in April

China's industrial value-added output grew 9.3 percent year on year in April after adjusted by inflation, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.

Consumer confidence slightly up despite CPI rebound

China's consumer confidence increased slightly in March even though inflation rose last month from February.

The Bankcard Consumer Confidence Index (BCCI), jointly compiled and released by Xinhua News Agency and China UnionPay, stood at 86.77 in March, up 0.08 percentage point from February. The March figure was released Monday.

China CPI growth rebounds to 3.6 pct in March

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, expands 3.6 percent year-on-year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The growth rebounds slightly from the 3.2-percent rate registered in February, the lowest pace in 20 months.

China's Q1 GDP up 8.4%, CPI up 3.5%

China's economy would grow 8.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, a senior official with the country's top economic planner said Tuesday.

Consumer prices would grow 3.5 percent from one year earlier in the first three months, said Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, at the 2012 annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia.