Inflation reaches 3-yr high at 6.5%

Turmoil in global financial markets may delay further rate increases

BEIJING - China's inflation rate hit a three-year high in July, posing challenges to policymakers amid turmoil in the global financial markets.

The consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of inflation, rose 6.5 percent in July year-on-year, driven mainly by soaring food prices which climbed 14.8 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.