China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, returned to year-on-year growth in March, ending a 41-month streak of decline, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The PPI rose 0.5 percent year on year in March, reversing a 0.9 percent drop in February, according to the NBS.

NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the turnaround mainly to imported inflationary pressures and improved supply-demand dynamics in some domestic industries.

Globally elevated prices for commodities like crude oil and non-ferrous metals drove up costs in related sectors at home. In March, the purchasing prices for non-ferrous metal mining and dressing surged 36.4 percent year on year, while prices for the smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metals jumped 22.4 percent, with the growth rates expanding by 6.2 and 0.3 percentage points from February, respectively.

On a monthly basis, the PPI rose 1 percent in March, marking the sixth consecutive month of increase. The growth rate accelerated by 0.6 percentage points from February, representing the largest monthly increase in 48 months.

The faster monthly growth was primarily driven by a sharp rise in prices for domestic petroleum-related industries, influenced by significant increases in international crude oil prices, Dong said.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 1 percent year on year in March, official data showed. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 1.1 percent year on year, according to the NBS data. On a month-on-month basis, CPI fell 0.7 percent in March, the data revealed. (Xinhua)