China’s consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, grew 0.8 percent year on year in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on March 9.

The pace, substantially below market expectation of 1.7 percent, slowed from a growth of 2.5 percent in January.

China’s producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 7.8 percent year on year in February.

The growth pace quickened from the reading of 6.9 percent registered in January, according to the NBS.