BEIJING -- China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, grew 2 percent year-on-year in November, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Sunday.

The inflation rate rose from a 33-month low of 1.7 percent in October as food prices increased.

On a month-on-month basis, November's CPI rose 0.1 percent from the previous month, according to a statement posted on the website of the NBS.

"The November growth rate was largely attributable to a surge in food costs," said Wang Jun, an expert with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

Food prices, which account for nearly one-third of the weighting in the calculation of China's CPI, rose 3 percent in November from one year earlier, pushing the index up 0.95 percentage point.

Vegetable prices jumped 11.3 percent year-on-year in November as cold weather disrupted supplies, pushing the CPI up 0.27 percentage point. Prices for aquatic products gained 4.9 percent from one year earlier, according to the statement.

Excluding food prices, China's CPI edged up 1.6 percent.

Wang forecast that China's economy will expand by 7.8 percent in 2012 and that the CPI will reach around 2.8 percent for the entire year, well below the government's target of keeping inflation under 4 percent.

"A combination of low inflation and modest economic growth is surely a desirable outcome for China in the difficult year of 2012," according to Wang.

In the first 11 months, the CPI grew 2.7 percent year-on-year on average, marking a decline from the 3.3-percent rise in the first half of the year.

Wang said he believes the CPI will pick up in 2013, but not dramatically. "Consumption and investment will maintain mild growth next year, which will prevent the economy from overheating and be conducive to controlling inflation."

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