The reading comes as authorities struggle to kickstart activity among the country’s army of consumers, with officials last week issuing a set of directives aimed at boosting buying.

The 0.5% increase in the consumer price index – the main gauge of inflation – was sharply up from the 0.2% seen in June and marked the sixth straight month of rising.

China endured a period of deflation between October to January, when sliding prices of goods and services heightened worries of an economic slowdown.

July’s reading – which beat forecasts in a survey by Bloomberg – represents the fastest rise in consumer prices since February, when the figure increased 0.7% year-on-year.

Beijing has said it wants annual economic growth this year of around 5%, a target considered ambitious by many experts as the country is also laden by prolonged debt crisis in the real estate sector, and high youth unemployment.

Statistics authorities also announced Friday that the producer price index (PPI) – which measures the cost of goods as they leave factory gates – fell 0.8%, a 22nd straight month of decline. Bloomberg had forecast it to drop 0.9%.

The index provides an overview of the general health of the economy.