China\'s consumer price index (CPI) increased to 2.4 percent in April, the country\'s statistics authority said Thursday. The figure marked a 0.3 points surge from a month earlier. The NBS attributed the rise mainly to an unusual increase in vegetable prices, and it is largely in line with the market forecast of around 2.3 percent. In April, food prices, which account for nearly one-third of weighting in China\'s CPI, increased 4 percent year-on-year, with the prices of vegetables rising 5.9 percent, NBS data showed. China aims to hold this year\'s consumerinflation at around 3.5 percent.