China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.8 percent year on year in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
The growth rebounds slightly from the 3.2-percent rate registered in February, the lowest pace in 20 months.
The country's CPI climbed 3.8 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous year. On a monthly basis, CPI edged up 0.2 percent in March, the NBS said.
Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, increased 7.5 percent last month from one year earlier.
A new round of price increases announced recently by major producers of cooking oil, milk powder and shampoo will put some pressure on consumer prices in China for several months to come, several economists said.