BEIJING, May 11 -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.1 percent year on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The figure was lowered than the 0.7-percent increase in March. On a monthly basis, the prices were slightly down by 0.1 percent, narrowing from the 0.3-percent decline in the previous month.

NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the slower year-on-year price increase to a high base in the corresponding period of 2022, when the inflation growth came in at 2.1 percent.

"In April, the market supply was generally sufficient and consumer demand gradually recovered," Dong said.

The core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, was up by 0.7 percent from a year earlier and by 0.1 percent month on month.