China’s consumer prices rose only slightly last month amid public concerns over food shortages, but factory-gate inflation surged to the highest level in 26 years, data released on Wednesday showed.

China’s official consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.5 per cent in October from a year earlier, up from a rise of 0.7 per cent in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

This was above the Bloomberg survey median, which had predicted a rise to 1.4 per cent. Beijing has set a 2021 CPI growth target of around 3 per cent, compared with around 3.5 per cent last year.

“In October, CPI rose under the combined influence of inclement weather, a contradiction between supply and demand of some commodities, and rising costs,” said senior NBS statistician Dong Lijuan.

Last week, China’s Ministry of Commerce told local authorities to stabilise food supply and prices – including for vegetables, meat and cooking oil – in preparation for the coming cold months.

Read more in South China Morning Post.