(File photo: CFP)

BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, went down 3 percent year on year in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The decline narrowed from a 3.7-percent decrease in May, NBS data showed.

On a month-on-month basis, the PPI rose 0.4 percent last month, compared with a 0.4-percent fall in May.

Market demand continued to improve in June, as prices of international bulk commodities rebounded and the domestic manufacturing sector recovered steadily, said NBS senior statistician Dong Lijuan.

During the first half of the year, the PPI fell 1.9 percent year on year.

The PPI data came along with the release of the consumer price index, which rose 2.5 percent year on year in June, up from the 2.4-percent growth in May.