Feng Lin, executive director of research at Orient Golden Credit Rating International, said sustained global investment in AI -coupled with rapidly growing domestic demand for computing power — has continued to push up prices along the semiconductor industrial chain.

　　Given the continued transmission of global energy price fluctuations to producer prices, Feng said commodity price movements will remain an important factor affecting China's near-term PPI trend.

　　"China's PPI is expected to continue rising month-on-month in May, though the pace of increase will likely slow significantly. Year-on-year PPI growth may accelerate to around 3.5 percent," she said.

　　Consumer inflation also picked up moderately. China's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose 1.2 percent year-on-year in April, up from a 1.0 percent increase in March, said the NBS.

　　Dong, the statistician with the bureau, said the CPI pickup was partly supported by stronger services consumption during the holiday period.

　　Food prices, meanwhile, declined 1.6 percent year-on-year in April, compared with a 0.3 percent increase in March. Pork prices fell 15.2 percent, with the drop 3.7 percentage points larger than in March.

　　To promote the stable operation of the pork market, the National Development and Reform Commission — China's top economic regulator — recently said it would support local governments in purchasing frozen pork for commercial reserves.

　　The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices and is deemed a better gauge of supply-demand conditions, rose 1.2 percent year-on-year in April, the NBS said.

　　Despite the improving price trend, analysts cautioned that elevated energy prices may provide only short-term support for inflation, with their impact likely to be uneven.