China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, eased to 2 percent year on year in August, marking the lowest level in four months, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on September 11.

For the first eight months, CPI rose 2.2 percent from a year ago, which was far lower than the government full-year inflation control target of 3.5 percent.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures inflation at the wholesale level, dropped 1.2 percent year on year in August, according to the NBS.

The PPI declined for the 30th month in a row and at a faster pace than the previous month, confirming pressure from slowing economic growth.

The PPI dropped 0.9 percent in July, 1.1 percent in June and 1.4 percent in May.

Yu Qiumei, a senior statistician of the NBS, attributed the decline to prices falling for a series of industrial products and material. Prices of crude oil and oil products ended their rising streak and started falling in August, while prices of coal, steel, concrete and cement continued to decline.