China CPI growth rebounds to 3.6 pct in March

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, expands 3.6 percent year-on-year in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The growth rebounds slightly from the 3.2-percent rate registered in February, the lowest pace in 20 months.

The country's CPI climbed 3.8 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous year. On a monthly basis, CPI edged up 0.2 percent in March, the NBS said.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, increased 7.5 percent last month from one year earlier.