BEIJING — China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.4 percent year-on-year in March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on April 9.

The figure reversed from the 0.2-percent drop in February, the NBS data showed.

Food prices went down 0.7 percent year-on-year, dragging down consumer inflation by 0.12 percentage points, according to the data.

The carryover effect sent the CPI inflation down by 0.6 percentage points, while new price increases pulled the growth up by 1 percentage point, the NBS data showed.

On a monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.5 percent, with food prices down 3.6 percent due to falling demand after the Spring Festival, noted Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.

Data released on April 9 also showed China's producer prices, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 4.4 percent year-on-year in March.