BEIJING — China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.9 percent year-on-year in February, flat from the growth seen in the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on March 9.

On a monthly basis, the CPI gained 0.6 percent due to rising food demand during the Spring Festival, which fell in February this year, along with the fluctuations in global energy prices, noted Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.

Food prices went up 1.4 percent from the previous month, driving up the monthly consumer inflation by 0.26 percentage points, according to the data.

Prices for industrial consumption products rose 0.8 percent from January, fueled by high global energy costs. The prices of gasoline, diesel and liquified petroleum gas went up by 6.2 percent, 6.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

The data also showed China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 8.8 percent year-on-year in February.

Month-on-month, the PPI inched up 0.5 percent.