China's consumer prices rose at a slower pace and missed expectations in April, while factory gate deflation deepened, data showed on Thursday, suggesting more stimulus may be needed to boost a patchy post-COVID economic recovery.

The consumer price index (CPI) for the month rose 0.1% year-on-year, slower than the 0.7% annual gain seen in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The result missed the median estimate of a 0.4% rise in a Reuters poll. The producer price index (PPI) fell for a seventh consecutive month, down 3.6% from a year earlier after a 2.5% drop the previous month. That compared with a forecast for a 3.2% fall.

China's economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter thanks to the lifting of COVID curbs in December but the recovery has been uneven. Recent data showed factory activity contracted and imports fell in April.

(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)