An employee arranges fruit at a supermarket in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, on Wednesday. WANG CHUN/FOR CHINA DAILY

　　China"s consumer inflation accelerated while factory-gate price growth gathered pace in August, both reversing July"s month-on-month declines, as the global artificial intelligence investment boom and renewed hostilities in the Middle East pushed up technology-related and energy prices, analysts said on Wednesday.

　　However, underlying price gains remained modest and sectoral divergence persisted, they added, calling for stronger policy support to boost domestic demand and thereby promote a "reasonable rebound in prices".

　　The consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in August, up from 0.5 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. On a month-on-month basis, the CPI rose 0.4 percent, reversing a 0.1 percent decline in July.

　　The acceleration, according to Feng Lin, executive director of research at Orient Golden Credit Rating International, largely reflects a sharp rise in domestic gasoline prices as escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed global crude prices higher again.

　　NBS data showed that energy prices rose 4.1 percent year-on-year in August, up from 0.6 percent in July and contributing about 0.28 percentage points to CPI growth, with gasoline prices in particular jumping 9.3 percent.

　　Gold jewelry prices also provided a major boost, surging 33.6 percent year-on-year, with the increase widening by 9 percentage points from July, according to the bureau.