China's third-quarter consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, is expected to be around the same level as it was in July, 3.3 percent, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Friday.

Despite upward pressure on prices in the third quarter, CPI growth will remain about constant, the country's top economic planner said in a statement on its website.

China's CPI was up 3.3 percent in July from a year earlier, 0.4 percentage points higher than the rise in June, according to statistics released Wednesday.

Because floods disrupted food production, food prices will be pushed up in the third quarter, the statement said.

The Chinese government in March set a target of keeping the full-year inflation rate at about 3 percent this year.

(Xinhua News Agency Aug 14, 2010)