China's consumer price index (CPI) will rise at a faster rate in the second half of the year, Spokesman Zheng Jingping with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) told Xinhua in an interview.

China's economy surged a year-on-year 10.9 percent in the first half of 2006, with inflation remaining moderate. The key consumer price index (CPI) rose only 1.3 percent from a year earlier.

In the second half, the force to push the consumer price is stronger, but inflation will still remain moderate, Zheng said.

In April, May and June this year, the CPI growth was 1.2 percent, 1.4 percent and 1.5 percent, showing the acceleration trend of inflation.

Inflation not only depends on CPI, but also on the producer price index (PPI), Zheng said. The growth of prices for raw materials, fuel and power also speeded up in the same way, he said.

More attention should be paid to the inflation issue because the current money supply is quite large and the fixed asset investment is soaring in the country, he said.

Source: Xinhua