"So far there is no overheating in the economy as the price growth in February was mild," said NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun at a briefing in Beijing.

    "Price rises this year will be moderate and controllable", said Sheng who also forecast the index growth would slow in March due to seasonal factors.

    The mild rise was partly caused by a hike in food prices, he said.

    "Vegetable and fruit prices were up by 25 percent, accounting for 70 percent of February's inflation," said Yao Jingyuan, chief economist of the NBS.

    Food prices rose 6.2 percent year on year last month, with non-food prices rising 1 percent.

    The food price hike was partly due to the Lunar New Year holiday falling in February this year, a time when Chinese spend a lot of money on food, alcohol, cigarettes and gifts.

    Poor weather with rain and snow also contributed to the food price increase in February, said Sheng.

    "The CPI will grow at a lower pace when the weather gets warm," he said.

    The CPI in the first two months rose 2.1 percent year on year. The combined data of January and February shows a clearer picture of the inflation status as last year's Lunar New Year fell in January.

    China's CPI ended nine months of decline in November last year, when it rose 0.6 percent. In December it rose 1.9 percent, as freezing weather helped push up food prices.

    The producer price index (PPI), a major measure of inflation at the wholesale level, rose 5.4 percent in February from a year earlier, up from January's 4.3 percent.

    "Given last year's low comparison base, the PPI growth in February was mild," said Sheng.

    The figure dropped 4.5 percent in February last year due to the global economic slowdown. It ended 12 months of decline in December last year, up 1.7 percent.

    The CPI had risen for four straight months, which triggered inflation expectations and concerns of overheating in the economy.