China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, dipped 1.8 percent in July from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Tuesday.

This marked the sixth consecutive month of decline since the index dropped 1.6 percent in February, the first fall since October 2002.

The index was unchanged compared with June, according to the NBS. The CPI fell 1.7 percent in June year on year.

The country's producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, fell 8.2 percent year on year in July, according to the NBS. It showed a month-on-month increase of 1 percent.

The July decline compared with a 7.8-percent drop in June and 7.2-percent drop in May year on year.