But while prices are increasing, demand remains weak because of the trade war with the United States and economic uncertainty.
The consumer price index (CPI) -- a key gauge of retail inflation -- hit 2.7 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, compared with 2.5 percent in April and the highest since February 2018.
The data was in line with a forecast of analysts polled by Bloomberg News.
The rise was "largely the result of renewed acceleration in food price inflation", and pork supply disruptions caused by African swine fever, Capital Economics said in a note.
Millions of pigs have been culled recently as the disease cuts through China and beyond, devastating global food chains and impacting pork prices from the food markets of Hong Kong to US dinner tables.
The price of pork soared 18.2 percent in May, China's NBS said. The price of fresh fruit on-year was up 26.7 percent as bad weather hammered supplies.
