China's inflation rose marginally on non-food prices in March, while factory gate inflation moderated as commodity prices weakened notably.

Inflation rose to 0.9 percent in March from 0.8 percent in February, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, cited by rttnews. Nonetheless, this was slightly slower than the expected 1 percent.

The government targets around 3 percent inflation for the whole year of 2017.

Consumer price inflation may regain some ground but should remain below 2 percent, Julian Evans-Pritchard, a China economist at Capital Economics, said. The upshot is that those anticipating a further reflation in China are likely to be disappointed, he added.

Food prices declined 4.4 percent versus a 4.3 percent fall in February. Meanwhile, non-food prices advanced 2.3 percent after rising 2.2 percent.

Month-on-month, consumer prices fell 0.3 percent following a 0.2 percent drop in February.