SHANGHAI, Aug. 22 -- SURGING pork prices drove Shanghai food prices up 9.3 percent in July from a year earlier, the fastest growth rate in 29 months, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday.

The growth rate was up 0.6 percentage points from June and was the highest since February 2005.

The city's pork prices surged 53.7 percent in July on a yearly basis and rose 11.4 percent on a monthly basis, the bureau said.

The food prices contributed heavily to the rising consumer price index, which rose 2.7 percent in the month. However, the inflation rate growth was much lower than the country's 5.6-percent growth.

The bureau said the strained pork supply spurred prices, which also pushed up the prices of other meats.

Beef prices rose 3.7 percent in July from June, mutton prices were up 1.2 percent, chicken prices jumped 2.8 percent and duck prices rose 2.9 percent, the bureau said.

High temperatures, rainstorms and typhoons also damaged vegetable crops, which grew 20.7 percent from a year earlier and 9.2 percent from a month earlier, the bureau said.

However, the sufficient supply of fruit kept prices down in the period.

Fruit prices dropped for the fifth straight month by 12.7 percent from a month earlier, the bureau said.

China's central bank today raised interest rates for the fourth time this year to rein in the country's highest inflation in more than a decade.

The Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, jumped 5.6 percent year on year in July - the fastest growth rate since February 1997.

The higher-than-expected upswing beat the 4.4 percent increase in June and sent combined inflation up to 3.5 percent so far this year, beyond the central bank's three percent target for all of 2007.