China will step up efforts to combat inflation next year after prices rose more than 5 per cent in November, according to a statement released after an annual economic policy meeting in Beijing.
The rise in the consumer price index by 5.1 per cent in November was higher than expected, and up from 4.4 per cent in October. It is also well above the government’s 3 per cent inflation target, and will increase pressure on the authorities to raise interest rates and further rein in the huge monetary stimulus of the past two years.
State media said on Sunday, at the conclusion of a three-day conference to set economic policy for 2011, that the government’s goal would be to battle inflation without jeopardising growth.