Extending a lengthy decline in the nation's producer price index (PPI), China's factory gate prices fell 2.3% on year in January, reported the National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.

China's PPI struck an apex in October of 2021, rising 13.5% o yer, but since then the PPI rate has steadily declined, and has been logging on-year deflation since October of 2022.

The soft PPI has raised concerns that the nation's economic recovery is sluggish and that an ailing property sector is still undercutting demand for industrial products.

On year, certain types of fabricated construction steel prices fell 10.7% in January, while iron ore prices fell 13.2% on year, reported the NBS.

Prices collected by the coal-mining industry fell 10.9% on year in January, while oil, coal and other fuel prices declined 6.2% on year in January, reported the NBS.

The PPI measures prices charged by producers to large buyers, and is distinct from consumer price indices, which measure prices charged at retail to ordinary consumers.

Movements in the PPI are one indicator of pending inflation at the consumer level, as retailers try to recoup costs or pass on savings.

In recent months, Beijing has introduced certain fiscal and monetary measures intended to stimulate the nation's economy and revive a sagging property sector.

But some financial indicators of China's economy are still sluggish. For example, in early February yields on 10-year China government bonds remained at all-time record lows, striking below 1.60%, possibly another sign that investors do not expect a robust economic expansion from China.

In related news, China's consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5% on year in January, reported the NBS.

The nation's central bank, the People's Bank of China, has an annual inflation target of about 3%.