China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.9 percent year on year in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced in Beijing Thursday.

In the first half of this year, the consumer prices went up by 2.6 percent. The price rose by 2.5 percent in cities and that in rural areas by 2.8 percent.

Grouped by commodity categories, five out of the eight witnessed growth and the rest three saw drops in prices. The prices for food rose by 5.5 percent; prices for tobacco, liquor and articles up by 1.7 percent; health care and personal articles up by 2.7 percent; recreation, education, culture articles and services up by 0.3 percent; and housing up by 3.9 percent while prices for clothing down by 1.1 percent; household facilities, articles and maintenance services down by 0.6 percent; and transportation and communication down by 0.1 percent.

In terms of month-on-month change, in June this year, the consumer prices dropped by 0.6 percent.