China’s consumer price inflation reached a three-year high of 6.5% in July, above June’s 6.4% figure and slightly higher than expected, Bloomberg reported. Producer price inflation rose 7.5% for the month, the biggest gain in three years and higher than the 7.1% reading in June. China’s leadership has struggled to keep a lid on rising inflation in recent months, even after a series of interest rate hikes. However, weak economic growth and debt worries in Western markets make it difficult for China to continue tightening monetary policy without risking an economic downturn. “This is the kind of data that should trigger an interest rate hike, but the uncertainties in the global financial markets may delay the action,” said Wei Yao, an economist at Societe Generale. Most economists expect inflation to begin to moderate over the course of the rest of the year.