China's inflation up 0.5% in October, the first time the index went below 1% in 42 months

China's consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of inflation, rose 0.5 percent in October year-on-year, dropping by 1.2 percentage points compared with last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday, marking the first time the index went below 1 percent in 42 months - since March 2017.

The high comparison base of the same period last year and the shift in pork prices from rising to falling led to the fall of the year-on-year growth rate.

Food prices fell 1.8 percent from 0.4-percent growth last month, affecting about 0.41 percentage points of the CPI decline.

Pork prices fell for the first time in 19 months, dropping 2.8 percent. Pig production capacity continued to improve.

Fresh vegetables, beef and mutton prices rose 16.7, 7.0 and 3.6 percent respectively

"The conspicuous price growth in the second half of the year was created by the relative shortages caused by African swine fever and the COVID-19 pandemic, and now it has returned back to normal," said Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association.

Tian expected the CPI to remain stable until the end of the year.

In the non-food sector, the overall prices rose 0.1 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, affecting about 0.08 percentage points of CPI inflation.

Among non-food items, more people travelled during the National Day and Mid-Autumn festival holidays, with air tickets, hotel accommodation and tourism prices rising by 9.4 percent, 4.1 percent and 2.8 percent respectively.

"Industrial production prices were generally stable in October because domestic industrial production continued to recover," said Dong Lijuan, senior statistician with the NBS.

Producer price index (PPI) fell 2.1 percent on a year-on-year basis in October, the same decline as the previous month, the NBS said.

"The domestic manufacturing industry is recovering rapidly from the epidemic, and its recovery will be led by the demand, which mainly depends on whether exports will continue to maintain vigorous growth, corresponding policy input in infrastructure, and domestic consumer demand," said Tian.