Consumer prices rose 4.5% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That compares with 4.1% in December.
Analysts were expecting prices to rise by 4.0%.
High consumer prices have threatened to derail growth in China.
Inflation had been easing steadily since hitting a three-year high of 6.5% in July.
Analysts said not too much should be read into the New-Year-distorted January figures.
“January numbers are distorted by the Lunar New Year holiday and we need to wait until February numbers come out to make our conclusions,” said Shen Jianguang from Mizuho Securities Asia in Hong Kong.
“I think the policymakers will wait as well.”
The biggest contributor to the rise was pork prices, which gained 25% compared with 21.3% in December. That drove overall food inflation to rise 10.5%.
Chinese leaders have been under pressure to distribute the country’s economic prosperity better to the poor.
On Wednesday, in an attempt to alleviate some of those concerns, the Cabinet said it would increase the minimum wage by at least 13% each year until 2015.