A customer selects imported goods at a bonded commodities exhibition and trading center in Southwest China's Chongqing, on Jan 18, 2019. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's consumer prices and producer prices rose less than expected in January, official data showed on Friday.

China's January producer price index, which measures price increases before they reach the consumers, rose 0.1 percent from a year ago, lower than the expected 0.3 percent rise, statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

For the second month in a row, the index hit the lowest since September 2016. In December, the PPI grow 0.9 percent year-on-year, according to the bureau.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.7 percent over the previous year, lower than the expectations of a 1.9 percent growth, the data showed.