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TwitterChina's inflation rebounded in May to its highest level in nearly three years, pushed up by stubbornly high food prices, even as interest rate hikes and other controls are cooling the overheated economy.
The National Statistics bureau said Tuesday that consumer prices rose 5.5 percent over a year earlier, driven by an 11.7 percent jump in food costs. That was up from April's 5.3 percent rate and exceeded March's 32-month high of 5.4 percent.
The figure was in line with economists' forecasts, but well above the government's 4 percent target for the year.
The government reported Monday that bank lending fell in May, indicating that repeated interest rate hikes and increases to reserve requirements may finally be reining in the excess lending that has helped drive prices higher.
But food prices have remained high, as drought and other weather disasters have decimated crops in wide parts of the country. Rising consumer demand is outstripping food supplies, while a bank lending boom spurred by Beijing's response to the 2008 global crisis has further inflated demand for key commodities.
Mindful of inflation's role in eroding the economic gains that underpin their claim to power, China's communist leaders have declared taming prices a top priority.
Violent protests have become frequent in recent years but the past few weeks have been particularly turbulent, with bombings and street demonstrations from Inner Mongolia in the north all the way to Guangdong in the south.
Though the triggers for the events varied, most have been driven by resentment over social inequality, abuse of power and suppression of legitimate grievances. Surging prices for food and other basic necessities have added to those frustrations.
While seeking to impose social "harmony" and cracking down on dissent, the leadership has sought to steer economic growth from the sizzling 9.7 percent rate in the first quarter to a more sustainable level.
Beijing has hiked interest rates four times since October and ordered companies to hold down prices. So far, inflationary pressures have offset those efforts, but economists say the pace of increases has slowed and they expect prices to moderate in coming months.
May's price increase was the fastest since July 2008, when inflation clocked in at 6.3 percent. It peaked at 8.7 percent in February 2008 but fell back under the shock to export demand from the global crisis.
Food prices are heavily weighted in China's calculation of its consumer price index and as supplies rebound during the summer months, that pressure should ease, economists say.
"Barring any further shocks to food supply, headline inflation should drop to beneath 3.5 percent by the end of 2011," Mark Williams, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said in a report Monday.
The National Statistics bureau said Tuesday that consumer prices rose 5.5 percent over a year earlier, driven by an 11.7 percent jump in food costs. That was up from April's 5.3 percent rate and exceeded March's 32-month high of 5.4 percent.
The figure was in line with economists' forecasts, but well above the government's 4 percent target for the year.
The government reported Monday that bank lending fell in May, indicating that repeated interest rate hikes and increases to reserve requirements may finally be reining in the excess lending that has helped drive prices higher.
But food prices have remained high, as drought and other weather disasters have decimated crops in wide parts of the country. Rising consumer demand is outstripping food supplies, while a bank lending boom spurred by Beijing's response to the 2008 global crisis has further inflated demand for key commodities.
Mindful of inflation's role in eroding the economic gains that underpin their claim to power, China's communist leaders have declared taming prices a top priority.
Violent protests have become frequent in recent years but the past few weeks have been particularly turbulent, with bombings and street demonstrations from Inner Mongolia in the north all the way to Guangdong in the south.
Though the triggers for the events varied, most have been driven by resentment over social inequality, abuse of power and suppression of legitimate grievances. Surging prices for food and other basic necessities have added to those frustrations.
While seeking to impose social "harmony" and cracking down on dissent, the leadership has sought to steer economic growth from the sizzling 9.7 percent rate in the first quarter to a more sustainable level.
Beijing has hiked interest rates four times since October and ordered companies to hold down prices. So far, inflationary pressures have offset those efforts, but economists say the pace of increases has slowed and they expect prices to moderate in coming months.
May's price increase was the fastest since July 2008, when inflation clocked in at 6.3 percent. It peaked at 8.7 percent in February 2008 but fell back under the shock to export demand from the global crisis.
Food prices are heavily weighted in China's calculation of its consumer price index and as supplies rebound during the summer months, that pressure should ease, economists say.
"Barring any further shocks to food supply, headline inflation should drop to beneath 3.5 percent by the end of 2011," Mark Williams, senior China economist at Capital Economics, said in a report Monday.
