BEIJING - China's consumer price index fell 1.4 per cent in May from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday, reporting the fourth consecutive monthly decline.

The consumer price index, the main indicator of inflation and deflation in the world's third-largest economy, was dragged down mainly by non-food items, the bureau said.

The index fell by 0.9 per cent in the first five months of the year compared with the same period last year, according to the bureau. -AFP