China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.2 percent year on year in December, up from a 0.5-percent decrease in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The CPI edged up 0.7 percent on a monthly basis, compared with the 0.6-percent drop registered in November.

Food prices increased 1.2 percent year on year last month, reversing a 2-percent decline in November and contributing about 0.26 percentage points to the CPI increase, said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.

Growing consumer demand, rising costs and special weather conditions were the main factors that pushed the CPI back into positive territory, Dong said.

In breakdown, prices of both vegetables and fruits climbed 6.5 percent year on year in December, while those of beef and mutton gained 4.6 percent from a year earlier.

In 2020, China's CPI rose 2.5 percent year on year, staying within the government's annual target of around 3.5 percent. Enditem