China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.5 percent year-on-year in January, the same as the previous month, official data revealed on Friday.

In breakdown, inflation rose 2.6 percent in cities, and 2.2 percent in rural areas, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

Food prices, which account for roughly a third of CPI, rose 3.7 percent in January from a year ago, while prices of non-food products edged up 1.9 percent, NBS said.

On a month-to-month basis, January's CPI grew 1 percent from December of 2013. Food prices in January rose 2.4 percent from the previous month, while prices of non-food products edged up 0.3 percent.