China Inflation Spikes in July

SHANGHAI (TheStreet) -- China's inflation rose sharply in July as food prices jumped due to heavy flooding in the country.

The consumer price index rose 3.3% year-over-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics of China said Wednesday. That's up from 2.9% in June but slightly expectations of a 3.4% increase.

Most of the increase was due to a sharp increase in food prices, which ballooned by 6.8%. Non-food prices rose by 1.6%, the report showed.

The report comes one day after

China's trade surplus

ballooned to an 18-month high of $28.7 billion in July as slowing economic growth hit imports.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston

.

Follow Robert Holmes on

Twitter

and become a fan of TheStreet.com on

Facebook.

Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors, reporters and analysts from holding positions in any individual stocks.