China's consumer price index eased slightly in July from June. The producer price index decline also narrowed.

The National Bureau of Statistics says China's consumer price index rose 1.8 percent in July from a year earlier, compared with a 1.9 percent increase in June. Consumer inflation has been well below China's official target of around 3 percent in 2016.

Food prices were up 3.3 percent in July, compared with a 4.6 percent gain in June. Prices for pork, China's staple meat, rose only 16.1 percent versus a 30.1 percent increase in June. Non-food prices increased 1.4 percent, compared with June's 1.2 percent gain.

PPI growth also eased to minus 1.7 percent from last month's minus 2.6 percent. That's still better than expected as analysts had looked for the PPI to decline 2 percent.

The oil industry and chemical engineering were the biggest drags on the July PPI. Producer prices for oil and gas drilling declined 15.9 percent. Oil refining prices dropped 9.2 percent while chemical engineering fell 4.7 percent.