(Yicai Global) April 9 -- Inflation in China continued to grow last month as the consumer price index growth climbed to its highest level since October 2018.

The CPI was up 2.5 percent from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement today. The figure is in line with the 2.53 percent gain predicted by a group of 21 chief economists surveyed by Yicai Global. The CPI was up 2.3 percent in March and 1.5 percent in February.

The producer price index, which measures manufacturers' output prices, expanded 0.9 percent last month compared with March's 0.4 percent gain. The economists surveyed by Yicai Global had forecast a 0.6 percent gain in April.

China aims to keep the CPI at around 3 percent this year, according to a government report published in February.

Editor: James Boynton