Again raising concerns about a sluggish economic recovery and weak demand in the post-COVID-19 era, China's consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.1% on year in April, and rose a scant 0.1% from March, reported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday.

In the year to April, national food prices declined 0.2% on year, non-food prices remained unchanged, and consumer goods prices dropped 0.3%, added the NBS.

In mild contrast, China service prices rose 0.3% on year, added the NBC.

The nation's core CPI, that strips out food prices, rose 0.5% on year, according to official figures.

China inflation rate is regarded as too low by Beijing's central bankers. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has an inflation target of "about" 3% a year on the CPI.

Eying modest inflation and tempered economic growth, last week the PBoC cut its key, seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 1.4% from 1.5%, and also lowered the reserve requirement ratio, which regulates the level of free cash a bank must hold in reserve, by 50 basis points.

The moves were intended to give China's commercial banks more money to lend at lower interest rates.

China's economic recovery has been hobbled by struggling property markets. One proxy for China's real estate values, the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index, has declined nearly 84% from the recent peak in early 2020.

The lower property values, including those of housing, has pinched China's consumer outlays, as homeowners feel less financially secure or wealthy.

However, China's state-run newspapers reported over the weekend that a recovery in residential property values is underway.

"In Shanghai, one of China's most important regional real estate markets, total home sales during the holiday, including new and second-hand properties, rose 36% year-on-year. New home transactions were up 12%, while second-hand home sales surged by 44%," reported the Xinhua news service.

Separately, China's producer price index (PPI) fell 2.7% on year in April, and declined 0.4% from March, the NBS reported, over the weekend.