China's consumer prices fell 0.3% in September from a year earlier, narrowing from August's 0.4% drop, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Wednesday. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 1.0%—its fifth straight month of gains and the first time in nearly 19 months the rate has returned to 1%.

According to the NBS, food prices fell 4.4% year-on-year, with pork down 17% and fresh vegetables down 13.7%. Non-food prices rose 0.7%, while service prices climbed 0.6%. Gold and platinum jewelry saw sharp increases of 42.1% and 33.6%, reflecting strong consumer demand in higher-value categories.

Meanwhile, China's producer price index (PPI) fell 2.3% from a year earlier, narrowing by 0.6 percentage points from August, according to the NBS. The statistics bureau attributed the improvement to lower comparison bases and policy support under the "unified national market" initiative, which helped narrow declines in coal, steel and photovoltaic industries.