BEIJING -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.2 percent year-on-year in January, official data showed on Wednesday.

The headline CPI growth moderated from the 0.8-percent gain in the previous month, largely due to base effects linked to the timing of the Chinese New Year and a sharper fall in energy prices, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Last year's Spring Festival fell in January, pushing up food and some service prices and leaving a higher comparison base. As a result, food prices fell 0.7 percent from a year earlier in January 2026, subtracting about 0.11 percentage points from the CPI, NBS statistician Dong Lijuan explained.

Energy prices dropped 5.0 percent, shaving roughly 0.34 percentage points off the headline CPI, the data revealed.

Despite the softer headline reading, underlying inflation demonstrated signs of improvement in January. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.8 percent year-on-year, indicating a continued, moderate recovery in consumer demand.

On a month-on-month basis, core CPI increased 0.3 percent, the fastest pace in nearly six months, the data showed.