BEIJING-- China's inflation accelerated to a 37-month high in July on surging food costs, putting the government in a tough position with worsening global liquidity in sight.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 6.5 percent year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

The stubbornly high inflation rate has been driven by increasing food costs, which rose by 14.8 percent in July from a year ago. The price of pork, a staple food in China, soared by nearly 57 percent in July.

On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased 0.5 percent over that of June.

The Producer Price Index, which is used to calculate inflation at the wholesale level, jumped 7.5 percent year-on-year in July.