BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 2.7 percent year on year in June, up from 2.1 percent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. 

The growth was below the government's full-year target of 3.5 percent. 

The NBS attributed the acceleration mainly to rises in food prices, which surged 4.9 percent month on month in June. 

The rise was slightly above the market forecast of around 2.6 percent, according to Tang Jianwei, a senior analyst on macroeconomics at Bank of Communications. 

On a monthly basis, the growth of the CPI in June edged up 0.6 percentage point from May, compared to a decline of 0.3 percentage point in May from April. 

The data also show that China's producer price index (PPI), which measures wholesale inflation, fell 2.7 percent year on year in June, marking the 16th straight month of decline and pointing to continued weak market demand. 

The PPI fell 2.9 percent year on year in May, marking the steepest drop in seven months. 

China's economic growth eased to 7.8 percent last year, the slowest since 1999. It unexpectedly slowed to 7.7 percent in the first quarter of 2013 from the 7.9-percent expansion logged in the fourth quarter of last year. 

Data for the second quarter will be unveiled on July 15.