SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - China's consumer inflation eased to 1.2 per cent year-on-year in May, weaker than market expectations, raising concerns about growing deflationary pressures as the economy cools.

Analysts polled by Reuters predicted the index would come in at 1.3 per cent compared with 1.5 per cent the prior month.

The producer price index was unchanged at minus 4.6 per cent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, the 38th straight month of decline.

The market had expected producer prices to fall 4.5 per cent on an annual basis after a decline of 4.6 percent the prior month.