The nation’s main inflation gauge spiked to 7.1 percent last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said, pushed up by an 18.2 percent rise in food prices, with the cost of pork jumping 58.8 percent compared with a year ago.

But it also reflected a trend that worsened throughout 2007, despite a wide range of government measures aimed at keeping a lid on prices and reining in the nation’s economy, which expanded at a 13-year high of 11.4 percent.