China's April inflation near decade-high levels

Beijing has raised interest rates repeatedly over the past two years.

Prices began to rise in mid-2007 as China ran short of pork, grain and some other basic goods.

The government has attempted to assure the public that China has enough grain and is paying farmers to raise more pigs. Efforts to boost food supplies, however, were hampered by the most severe winter storms in decades, which wrecked crops and disrupted shipping.

The sharpest inflation has been limited to food but costs of raw materials and energy are edging up.

April's nonfood inflation was 1.8 percent, matching March, which was the highest in more than a year, according to the government data.

Producer prices rose 8.1 percent in April, driven by rising energy costs, according to the government.

April's 22.1 percent rise in food costs was fueled by a 68.3 percent jump in the price of pork, a 46.6 percent increase in that of cooking oil and a 13.6 percent increase for fresh vegetables.

China's global trade surplus in April fell by about 1 percent from the same month last year to $16.8 billion amid weaker global demand for Chinese goods, according to government data.

The trade surplus with Europe jumped by 34.8 percent to $12 billion (7.8 billion euros) while that with the United States saw much slower growth, rising by 4 percent to $13 billion, according to the Chinese customs agency.

The growing Chinese trade gap with the 27-nation European Union has prompted the EU to join Washington in lobbying Beijing to ease currency controls and import barriers.