China'S consumer inflation remained weak in December, while price declines at the factory gate level continued to deepen, suggesting weakness in the world's second-largest economy but giving policy makers more room to take easing measures.

Growth in the consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rebounded to 1.5 percent in December from November's 1.4-percent rise, its slowest increase since November 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

On a monthly basis, December's CPI edged up 0.3 percent against the previous month, reversing the downward trend experienced since September.