China April consumer inflation edges up to 1.5 pct y/y, misses forecast

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted the consumer price index (CPI) would pick up to 1.6 percent, compared with 1.4 percent posted the prior month.

The producer price index remained in negative territory for the 37th consecutive month, falling 4.6 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, extending factory deflation to more than three years.

The market had expected producer prices to fall 4.4 percent on an annual basis after a decline of 4.6 percent in March.

Wary about following in the footsteps of Japan, where a decade-long fall in consumer prices has dragged on economic growth, senior Chinese officials have said they were keeping a close eye on deflationary pressures.

They have said that the 1 percent mark in the consumer price index is a red line that would raise flags if inflation dropped below that.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill)