China's consumer price index rose to the highest level in 28 months, the government said Saturday, reinforcing the need for more tightening moves in the country.
The consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, rose 5.1 percent last month from a year earlier, up from 4.4 percent growth in
October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The on-year rise was higher than market estimates, which averaged 4.8 percent.
The inflation was driven by an 11.7 percent surge in food prices, which accounts for one third of the basket of goods used to calculate China's CPI.
The year-on-year increase in food prices grew from rises of 10.1 percent in October, 8 percent in September and 7.5 percent in August.
According to the bureau, the producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, rose 6.1 percent in November from a year earlier,
accelerating from a 5.0 percent advance in October.
The numbers were released as the Chinese government has started to move toward tightening its monetary policy in order to fight the country's overheated asset markets and inflation risks, and are expected to put more of such pressure on the world's second-largest economy.
China's central bank late Friday ordered banks to raise the amount of money they must keep in reserve for the sixth time this year, after it
announced in October the first interest rates hike in nearly three years.
The Chinese government is expected to raise interest rates in the coming weeks to reduce liquidity in the market.
In October, China's central bank announced a surprise interest rate hike to curb escalating inflationary pressure.