China's Producer Price Index (PPI), a main gauge of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 5 percent year-on-year in October, 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, October's reading fell 0.7 percent from that recorded in September, the 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.

China's retail sales up 17.2% in Oct

China's retail sales grew 17.2 percent year-on-year to reach 1.65 trillion yuan ($262.6 billion) in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

After deducting inflation, actual growth stood at 11.3 percent, the NBS said in a statement on its website.

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 1.3 percent, according to the statement.

During the first 10 months, the country's retail sales rose 17 percent from one year earlier to hit 14.74 trillion yuan.

Urban retail sales increased 17.2 percent year-on-year to 1.44 trillion yuan last month, while rural retail sales climbed 17.4 percent to 219.1 billion yuan, the NBS said.

In October, the nation's catering sector generated sales of 194.5 billion yuan, a rise of 17.1 percent from a year earlier, while commodities retail sales increased 17.3 percent to 1.46 trillion yuan.

Auto sales rose by 12.6 percent to hit 174.6 billion yuan during the same period, the NBS said.

Sales of home appliances and audiovisual equipment climbed 15.3 percent to 53.4 billion yuan last month, while sales of furniture rose 33.3 percent to 11.8 billion yuan, according to the statement.

Oct industrial output up 13.2%

Jan-Oct fixed-assets investment up 24.9%

China's fixed-asset investment rose 24.9 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of the year to 24.1365 trillion yuan ($3.8 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

The fixed-asset investment growth rate was the same as that recorded for the first nine months, said the NBS in a press release on its website.

On a monthly basis, fixed-asset investments increased 1.34 percent in October, it said.

Investment in the nation's property sector rose 31.1 percent year-on-year to reach 4.99 trillion yuan in the ten-month period, of which 3.58 trillion yuan went into residential housing, an increase of 34.3 percent from the same period last year.

Investment in State-owned and State-controlled companies rose 12.4 percent to 8.39 trillion yuan during the period.

Investment in the nation's eastern region grew 22.2 percent year-on-year, while investment in central and western regions rose 29.7 percent and 29.6 percent, respectively.