BEIJING, Dec. 9 -- China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 3 percent year on year in November, down from 3.2 percent in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

In breakdown, inflation rose 3 percent in cities, and 3.1 percent in rural areas. Food prices rose 5.9 percent from a year ago, while prices of non-food products edged up 1.6 percent, according to the NBS.

On a month-to-month basis, food prices in November dropped 0.2 percent from October. Prices of non-food products remained flat.

CPI rose 2.6 percent in the first 11 months year on year, well below the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent.

The NBS data also showed China's producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, contracted 1.4 percent year on year in November, following a 1.5-percent drop in October.