Inflation weakens amid softer demand, lower prices

China's consumer inflation and factory-gate prices rose at a weaker-than-expected rate in December, data released on Thursday showed.

Analysts said more policy support is needed to boost market sentiment to keep inflation at reasonable levels amid lingering worries about deflationary risks as the economy faces downward pressure.

Prices of industrial products slackened in December from the previous month. The producer price index, which measures factory-gate prices, rose 0.9 percent year-on-year, hitting the lowest level since September 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.