Consumer and producer prices record weak growth

China's consumer prices and producer prices rose weaker-than-expected in December, official data showed on Thursday.

Prices of industrial products slackened from the previous month, with the producer price index going up by 0.9 percent year-on-year in December, hitting the lowest level since September 2016, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

China's producer price index rose 3.5 percent year-on-year in 2018, according to the bureau.

The consumer inflation rose 1.9 percent year-on-year in December, compared to 2.2 percent growth in November, data showed.

China's consumer inflation target set for the last year was at 3 percent. The consumer price index rose 2.1 percent year-on-year in 2018, up from 1.6 percent in 2017.

For the third quarter of last year, China's GDP growth reached 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters.