BEIJING - China's Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, rose five percent in October year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.  

The reading eased from a growth of 6.5 percent in September.

The decline is bigger, as the index for October was previously estimated at between 5.7 percent and 6 percent, according to the Xinhua macro-economic data survey.

On a month-on-month basis, producer prices in October fell 0.7 percent from the September price level, NBS said in a statement on its website.

An easing PPI shows that the government's cooling measures have begun to take effect, according to Chen Kexin, an analyst with the Distribution Productivity Promotion Center of China Commerce.

He also said that a cooling real economy will sap demand for raw materials and thus drag down prices.

The producer prices of production materials rose 5.2 percent in October year-on-year, and decreased 0.8 percent from a month earlier.

The producer price level for non-ferrous metal slumped 4.9 percent from a month ago, while that for fuel edged down 0.3 percent.

However, Chen said there is still uncertainty regarding whether the PPI will continue to fall.

As fears of a double-dip global recession are still prevailing, many countries are implementing stimulus plans to boost growth, which leaves room for price hikes, he said.