China's CPI up 0.8 pct in August

A customer buys vegetables at a supermarket in Zaozhuang, east China's Shandong Province, Aug. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/ Sun Zhongzhe)

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.8 percent year on year in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.

The figure was lower than the 1 percent year-on-year growth recorded in July.

The slower growth was partly driven by a drop in food prices, which declined 4.1 percent year on year last month. In particular, the price of pork, a staple meat in China, slumped 44.9 percent from a year earlier.

Senior NBS statistician Dong Lijuan said continued government efforts had led to ample supply in the consumer market and stable prices in August.

China's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went up 9.5 percent year on year in August, according to the NBS.

China has set its consumer inflation target at approximately 3 percent for the year 2021, according to this year's government work report.