China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, remained unchanged in June in year-on-year terms, compared with the 0.2-percent annual gain seen in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. Deflation risks in China heightened in June amid weak demand, with consumer prices remaining flat and a factory-gate price fall deepening further, underlining a slowing economic recovery. The consumer price index (CPI) was unchanged from a year earlier, down from 0.2 per cent growth in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It marked the lowest reading since February 2021. Meanwhile, dragged down by a sharp fall in raw material prices, the producer price index (PPI) – which reflects the prices that factories charge wholesalers for products – fell by 5.4 per cent in June from the previous year. It marked the steepest fall since December 2015. “The data is weaker than expected. Further evidence that domestic demand is weak,” said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie Group.