BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 2.5 percent year-on-year in December, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Friday.

The inflation rate increased from 2 percent in November and a 33-month low of 1.7 percent in October as food prices jumped.

On a month-on-month basis, December's CPI rose 0.8 percent from the previous month, according to a NBS statement.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, rose 4.2 percent in December from one year earlier, pushing the CPI up 1.37 percentage points.

Vegetable prices jumped 14.8 percent year-on-year in December as chilly weather disrupted vegetable transportation, pushing the CPI up 0.41 percentage points.

Prices for aquatic products gained 6.1 percent from one year earlier, according to the statement.

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