China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.2 percent year on year in May, official data showed Wednesday.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 1.1 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

On a month-on-month basis, CPI edged down 0.1 percent in May, the data revealed.

Wednesday's data also showed that China's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went up 3.9 percent year on year in May.