BEIJING — China's producer prices went up in February amid a steady recovery in domestic demand, official data showed on March 10.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went up 1.7 percent year-on-year in February, up from 0.3-percent rise in January, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on March 10.

On a monthly basis, the PPI rose 0.8 percent last month, down from the 1-percent increase in January, said NBS senior statistician Dong Lijuan.

Among the 40 surveyed industrial sectors, 25 saw prices increase month-on-month, while 10 reported price drops, and five witnessed unchanged prices.

A breakdown of the data showed that the PPI for the domestic oil and natural gas extraction sector rose 7.5 percent month-on-month due to continued growth in international crude oil prices.

Rising domestic demand boosted prices for the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry, with its PPI up 1.5 percent month-on-month.

The PPI for gas production and supply sector dropped 0.7 percent month-on-month on eased demand for winter heating, Dong said.

In the first two months, the PPI rose 1 percent on average year-on-year, according to the NBS.

The PPI data came along with the release of the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, which declined 0.2 percent year-on-year in February.