Photo: People buy vegetables and fruits at a supermarket in Lianyungang City, East China's Jiangsu province, May 12, 2020. /Xinhua

BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- China's consumer inflation eased in May on retreating food prices as the country restored work and production orderly amid generally stable COVID-19 situation, official data showed Wednesday.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.4 percent year on year in May, moderating from the 3.3-percent growth in April, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices went down 0.8 percent. Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of weighting in China's CPI, dropped 3.5 percent last month.

In breakdown, vegetable prices fell 12.5 percent from April over rising supplies. Pork prices declined 8.1 percent from a month earlier as hog production continued to recover and warm weather dampened consumption.

Compared with the same period last year, food prices remained the main driver of consumer inflation in May, while its growth rate tapered from April to 10.6 percent.

In the first five months of this year, CPI went up 4.1 percent year on year on average.

Wednesday's data also showed China's producer price index, which measures inflation at the factory gates, fell 3.7 percent year on year last month.