China's CPI up 3 pct in September

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3 percent year on year in September, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

The growth rate was up from 2.8 percent in August, and the highest so far this year.

Fruit and vegetables are seen at a supermarket in Beijing, on October 10, 2019. [File Photo: IC]

Food prices grew 11.2 percent year on year last month, up from 10 percent in August, while non-food prices gained 1 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than that of August.

Pork prices rose 69.3 percent year on year last month, while the growth rate narrowed on the month-on-month basis. Vegetable prices saw an 11.8-percent slip from a year ago.

The CPI in urban and rural areas registered a year-on-year growth of 2.8 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

China aims to keep consumer inflation at around 3 percent in 2019, according to a government work report.

Tuesday's data also showed that China's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 1.2 percent year on year in September.