China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was down 0.1 percent year on year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.

This figure represents an improvement compared to the 0.7 percent decline in February. The NBS attributed the improvement to the impact of policies designed to boost consumption, which have started to take effect.

While prices remained under pressure from seasonal and global factors, NBS statistician Dong Lijuan noted that the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.5 percent from a year ago in March, a significant recovery from the 0.1 percent drop in February.

Meanwhile, the producer price index (PPI) dropped by 2.5 percent year on year in March, and fell 0.4 percent on a monthly basis, according to NBS data.

The NBS attributed the decline of PPI to several factors, including the drop in domestic oil prices, seasonal downturn in energy demand, and declining prices of some raw materials.

(With input from Xinhua)