China's consumer prices rise more than expected
Poor weather a factor in inflation result, says analyst

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- China's consumer price index accelerated to a pace of 2.7% in February from the year-earlier month, driven by a surge in food prices, according to official data released Thursday.

The increase, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics, was higher than the 2.4% rise estimated by analysts in a Dow Jones Newswires survey, and was above the 1.5% increase in January's CPI.