Inflation risk has not gone away:

China’s top statistician

CHINA: China’s still faces the risks of rapidly rising prices and an overheated economy, the nation’s chief statistician said Friday.

Xie Fuzhan, head of the National Statistics Bureau, issued the warning in an opinion piece published in the People’s Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece.

“The pressure on prices to rise further is still big, and the inflation risks can’t be overlooked,” he said.

Inflation has emerged as a key political concern in a country where sharp price rises have sometimes stoked unrest.

China’s economy boomed last year, expanding by 11.4 percent, while inflation hit 4.8 percent.

Prices continued to climb to a near 12-year monthly high of 8.7 percent in February.

Xie reiterated that China would implement a tight monetary policy in 2008 to prevent economic overheating and tame inflation.

The Chinese government has targeted eight percent economic growth for this year while vowed to maintain inflation at 4.8 percent for this year.

Shanghai, Friday, AFP