China's producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 7.2 percent in February from a year earlier and 0.8 percent month on month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Friday.

The year-on-year growth was 0.6 percentage points higher than the January level, said Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman with the NBS at a press conference.

For the first two months of this year, the PPI climbed 6.9 percent year on year, said Sheng.

The NBS also announced the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.9 percent year on year in February.?