China's July CPI up 2.1%, PPI 4.6%

China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, rose 2.1 percent from a year earlier in July, beating expectations of 1.9 percent and staying well within the government's comfort range of below 3 percent.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI climbed 0.3 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics data on Thursday.

Non-food prices pushed the inflation rate higher, increasing 2.4 percent year-on-year and 0.3 percent month-on-month.

On a yearly basis, medical and health care prices ticked up 4.6 percent, transport and communications prices gained 3 percent, while costs of accommodation rose 2.4 percent. Educational, cultural and recreational prices increased 2.3 percent.

Food prices went up 0.5 percent year-on-year and edged up 0.1 percent month-on-month.

The price of pork, China's staple meat, continued to slump in July, down 9.6 percent year-on-year, dragging down CPI growth by 0.24 percentage point. On a monthly basis, however, it registered a 2.9 percent increase, faster than the 1.1 percent rise in June.

The average year-on-year CPI growth for the January-July period stood at 2 percent, according to the NBS.

Analysts said the robust domestic consumption power and concentrated traveling demands stemming from the summer vacation resulted in such a monthly figure and they forecast that the yearly consumer and factory pricing index will be well under control, despite the escalating Sino-US trade friction and the widespread global trading tensions.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 4.6 percent year-on-year in July, the NBS said.

The July growth slowed slightly compared with the 4.7 percent rise in June.

NBS statistician Sheng Guoqing said the carryover effect accounted for 3.9 percentage points in the PPI growth.

On a month-on-month basis, producer prices went up 0.1 percent in July, according to the NBS.

Factory prices of production materials grew 6 percent year-on-year, contributing 4.5 percentage points to the overall PPI growth. Those of consumer goods climbed 0.6 percent year-on-year.

Of all industrial sectors, producer prices in oil and natural gas exploration surged 42.1 percent year-on-year, 9.4 percentage points faster than the previous month. Oil, coal and other fuel processing posted a 24.6 percent increase in producer prices.

Ferrous and nonferrous metal smelting and pressing saw slower producer price growth.

Xinhua contributed to this story.