China's inflation rate will probably be around 4 percent or higher next year, said Zhu Baoliang, deputy director of the Economic Projection Department at the State Information Center.
Zhu made the remarks at the Fifth International Oils & Oilseeds Conference. Zhu said China will continue to face significant inflationary pressure in 2011.
According to Zhu, two major factors affect the rising inflation rate. Firstly, there has been rising inflationary pressure since the second half of this year, which will result in a carryover effect on next year's inflation. Secondly, the ongoing resource tax reform could drive the country's primary product prices to rise by between 3 and 5 percent. Taking increasing prices of real estate and agricultural products into consideration, next year's inflation rate should be around 4 percent or higher, Zhu said.
China's business press carried the story above on Monday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.