BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, is expected to rise no more than 3 percent year-on-year in 2019, an official said Thursday.

The index is expected to grow between 2 percent to 4 percent year-on-year in 2019, Lu Yanchun, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, made the remarks when addressing a conference on the coal industry.

There is little chance for the CPI growth to exceed 3 percent this year, Lu said.

In May, China's consumer prices rose to the highest level in 15 months with the CPI climbing 2.7 percent from a year ago, exceeding 2 percent for three consecutive months.

Food prices saw significant increases last month, with those of fruits and pork surging 26.7 percent and 18.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Lu predicted that crop prices will remain stable thanks to an expected bumper harvest for summer crops while prices of vegetables and fruits will fall after a hike recently thanks to increasing supplies in the market.

Hog prices will continue high for a period of time due to the African swine fever, Lu said, adding that price hikes of hogs will not lead to significant increases in the retail prices of pork according to past experience.

He said the CPI is expected to peak in May or June and then fall in the next few months, followed by a possible small rebound at the end of the year.