Premier underscores inflation issue

A worker welds iron at a wind power equipment company in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Nov 15, 2011. [Photo by Cai Zengle/Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday stressed that issues regarding consumer prices should never be underestimated, though the country's inflation has remained moderate.

China should better tackle the relations between economic growth, structural reform and inflation to keep the economy expanding at a reasonable level, Wen said during an inspection tour of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's economic planner.

He also noted that the country should improve the quality and efficiency of its economic growth, while fending off and defusing financial risks.

China's consumer prices expanded 2.6 percent year on year in 2012, well below the government's annual target of keeping inflation under 4 percent.

However, year-on-year inflation picked up steam in December to grow 2.5 percent, the fastest pace recorded in six months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.