China's CPI up 2.8 pct in July

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.8 percent year on year in July, up from 2.7 percent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday.

Customers picking up vegetable at a supermarket in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, on July 10, 2019. [File photo: IC]

The reading beat market expectations of 2.7 percent. On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices edged up 0.4 percent last month.

Food prices grew 9.1 percent year on year last month, up from 8.3 percent in June, while non-food prices gained 1.3 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than that of June.

Pricey fruits and pork continued to be the major factors behind the higher inflation rate, said NBS official Dong Yaxiu.

Prices of fruits surged 39.1 percent year on year, contributing 0.63 percentage points to July's CPI. Pork prices continued the upward trend last month due to tight supplies, jumping 27 percent year on year and 7.8 percent month on month.

The CPI in urban and rural areas registered a year-on-year growth of 2.7 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.

In the first seven months, consumer prices rose 2.3 percent from a year earlier on average, the NBS said.

Friday's data also showed that China's producer price index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 0.3 percent year on year in July.