China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 1.8 percent in April year-on-year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.

The growth of consumer inflation in April was slower than expected,down by 0.3 percentage point from the previous month.

The slower growth of inflation was mainly led by the steady decline of food prices, according to the NBS.

Food prices slipped 1.9 percent month-on-month and climbed only 0.7 percent year-on-year.

The price of pork, China's staple meat, slumped 16.1 percent yea-on-year, dragging down CPI growth by 0.43 percentage points. It fell 6.6 percent month-on-month.

Non-food prices rose 2.1 percent from the same period of last year and 0.2 percent from March.

China aims to keep annual CPI growth at around 3 percent this year, the same as the target for 2017.

Lian Ping,chief economist at Bank of Communications, said that the economy is unlikely to experience high inflation this year given that there has not been substantial rebound in demand, and the growth of credit supply has slowed.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs of goods at the factory gate, rose 3.4 percent year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

It was up from the 3.1 percent recorded in March, driven by growth in factory prices in the mining industry and raw material sector.

In the first four months, the PPI rose by 3.6 percent year-on-year, easing from 3.7-percent growth in the first quarter.

In breakdown, factory prices of the mining industry went up 6.1 percent, and those of raw materials rose 5.7 percent.

Of the 40 sectors covered by the NBS survey, 16 industries saw prices decline compared with a month earlier. Gas producers and suppliers, and the non-ferrous metal metallurgy sector reported smaller price declines.

The mild PPI increase indicates material demand in the real economy remains lukewarm, according to analysts.

Xinhua contributed to this story.