China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, dropped 1.7% year on year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. 
The PPI decline narrowed from a 2.6% decrease in June thanks to stronger industrial product prices for nonferrous metal smelting and rolling, ferrous metal ore mining, and ferrous metal melting and rolling, the NBS said in an online statement on Tuesday. 
However, the July reading continued a 52-month decline streak as China's economic slowdown and industrial overcapacity dampened prices, according to (Xinhua) news agency. 
On a month-on-month basis, July's PPI edged up 0.2%. 
The PPI figures came along with the release of the consumer price index, which rose 1.8% year on year in July, slowing from 1.9% in June.