China's consumer price index up 2.7% in July

Shoppers select fruits at a supermarket in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, grew 2.7 percent year-on-year in July, up from 2.5 percent from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

Food prices rose as the floods in some provinces disrupted the transport of pork and as bad weather affected the supply of vegetables, the NBS said.

It added that the market remained in good order despite the slight increase in consumer inflation, as the nation stepped up efforts to safeguard supply and stabilize the price level.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.5 percent year-on-year last month, 0.4 percentage points lower than in June.

The country's producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, fell by 2.4 percent year-on-year in July, improving from a 3 percent decline a month earlier.

This came as market demand rose amid rising industrial production while international commodities prices continued to rally, the bureau said.