Deflation is not evident in China at present and will not appear in the next stage, as the slow-paced growth in consumer prices is mainly time-limited, senior official said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.1 percent year-on-year in April. On a monthly basis, the prices were down slightly by 0.1 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday.

The core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, was up by 0.7 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.

In the next stage, the CPI is expected to stay low on an ongoing basis, which is attributable to a slower recovery on the demand side rather than the supply side after China's economy returns to normal operations. The market demand has a limited leverage on driving up prices in short term, said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui.

In the meanwhile, the transmission of international factors will continue, which will bring down domestic prices, he said.

（Picture: Veer）