China's monthly consumer price inflation hit an 11-year high of 8.7 per cent year-on-year in February, the government said on Tuesday. ( dpa )
Consumer prices rose by 9.2 per cent in rural areas and 8.5 per cent in cities, fuelled by a 23-percent leap in food prices, the National Statistics Bureau said in a report.
State media said continuing high inflation, after consumer prices also rose 7.1 per cent in January, would put pressure on China's central bank to raise interest rates again.
In his annual government work report last week, Premier Wen Jiabao said consumer price inflation was "the biggest concern of the people" and one of several "prominent issues and deep-rooted problems affecting economic performance."
On Sunday, President Hu Jintao urged local governments to ensure stable food prices and supplies of major farm produce, the official Xinhua news agency said.
"We must ensure stable production and prices of 'vegetable basket' products [non-staple food] for urban and rural consumers," the agency quoted Hu as saying at the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress, the nominal parliament of China's ruling Communist Party.