China's consumer price index (CPI) is likely to grow 2.6 percent in June from a year earlier, up from the 2.1-percent recorded in May, the Bank of Communications has predicted.
The official CPI, a main gauge of inflation, is due to be released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.
A rebound in pork prices may boost the June CPI, as food prices account for nearly one-third of the prices used to calculate the CPI, said Lian Ping, the bank's senior economist.
The bank expects the CPI for the first half of 2013 to rise 2.4 percent year on year, well below the government's target of 3.5 percent.
Driven down by slumping vegetable prices, the CPI grew 2.1 percent year on year in May, down from 2.4 percent in April, according to the NBS.