Consumers and small businesses are feeling to pinch from the unexpectedly large rise in retail price inflation in September and hoping price rises will become moderate for the rest of the year, as the prices for most industrial goods have remained stable.

The consumer price index rose 3.1 percent year-on-year in September, a seven-month high, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

Food prices, which increased 6.1 percent in September, contributed 1.94 percentage points to the overall inflation figure.