BEIJING (AP) ? China's inflation rebounded in January as food prices soared, renewing pressure on the communist government to control surging living costs while it tries to boost slowing economic growth.
Consumer prices rose 4.5 percent over a year earlier in January, up from the previous month's 4.1 percent, data showed Thursday. Food prices jumped 10.5 percent, accelerating sharply from December's 9.1 percent rise.
The rebound in inflation broke a monthslong decline from July's 37-month high of 6.5 percent. It will complicate efforts by Beijing to stimulate the cooling economy by easing curbs on lending and investment.
Inflation is politically dangerous for the ruling Communist Party because it erodes economic gains that underpin the party's monopoly on power. Last year's price spike stoked frustration among a public that is angry about pervasive corruption, a yawning gap between rich and poor, pollution and product safety scandals.
The food price rise was driven by a 25 percent gain in the cost of the pork, which is the staple meat in China. In December, pork prices rose 21.3 percent.
Communist leaders have promised pro-growth policies for entrepreneurs after the plunge in global demand and lending curbs caused a wave of bankruptcies, raising the threat of job losses and unrest.
The Cabinet promised Wednesday to try to shift more of the country's prosperity to the poor by increasing the required minimum wage for the lowest-paid workers by at least 13 percent each year through 2015.
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Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (in Chinese): www.stats.gov.cn
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