China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.2 percent year on year in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

The figure was higher than the 0.1-percent increase in April.

On a monthly basis, the prices were slightly down by 0.2 percent, expanding from the 0.1-percent decline in the previous month.

The core CPI, deducting food and energy prices, was up by 0.6 percent from a year earlier.

NBS statistician Dong Lijuan attributed the year-on-year price increase mainly to a high base in the corresponding period of 2022.

"In May, the CPI was generally stable," Dong said.