China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 2.7 per cent year-over-year in June, up from 2.1 per cent in May, amid concerns over the slowdown of the world's second largest economy.
The 2.7 increase was below the government's full-year target of 3.5 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.
The NBS attributed the acceleration mainly to rises in food prices, which surged 4.9 per cent month-on-month in June.
The rise was slightly above the market forecast of around 2.6 per cent, according to Tang Jianwei, a senior analyst on macroeconomics at Bank of Communications.
On a monthly basis, the growth of the CPI in June edged up 0.6 percentage point from May, compared to a decline of 0.3 percentage point in May from April.
The data also show that China's producer price index (PPI), which measures wholesale inflation, fell 2.7 per cent year-over-year in June, marking the 16th straight month of decline and pointing to continued weak market demand, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The PPI fell 2.9 per cent year on year in May, marking the steepest drop in seven months.
China's economic growth eased to 7.8 per cent last year, the slowest since 1999. It slowed down to 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2013 from the 7.9-per cent expansion logged in the fourth quarter of last year.
Data for the second quarter will be unveiled on July 15 amid speculation of further slowdown.
