BEIJING -- China's producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, in May fell 7.2 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Wednesday.

Prices of production materials fell 8.8 percent in May year on year, the NBS said in a statement.

The PPI for January-May fell 5.5 percent over the same period last year, it said.

The NBS also announced the consumer price index for May was down 1.4 percent year on year.