China's annual consumer price inflation sped to an 11-year high in November at 6.9 per cent.
China also logged a $26.3 billion trade surplus in November to dip below October's record of $27.1 billion, but the country's surging exports were barely dented by the slowing US economy.
But economists are giving closer scrutiny to inflation, which has been driven largely by food costs that make up a third of the CPI basket.
The numbers pointed to pressures seeping beyond food items, where annual price rises were still highest, up 18.2 per cent in November, to the broader economy, from utilities to travel costs.
The non-food consumer price index climbed 1.4 per cent in November year on year, above the 1.1 per cent increase in October, and the sharpest rise this year.
Full-year consumer price inflation is likely to register a rise of about 4.7 per cent, which would be the highest since 1996, the chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics said.