China's reliance on foreign trade had exceeded 60 percent, which made the country more sensitive to price changes on international markets and caused the ensuing external-driven inflation in the nation, sources with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

The country's inflationary pressure was mainly driven by price rises for crude oil, grain and iron ores worldwide, according to the NBS.

The rocketing crude prices affected the Chinese economy greatly, as the nation relies on imports to meet nearly 50 percent of its oil demand. Given the price rises for crude and government capping on domestic prices of refined oil products, the oil refining sector has losses 50 billion yuan (US$7.3 billion) so far this year.

More than 50 percent of China's annual demand for iron ores are met with imports. The nation suffered from price rises for iron ores year after year--the price was up 71.5 percent in 2005, up 19 percent in 2006, up 9.5 percent in 2007 and up more than 65 percent in 2008. Higher iron ore prices have driven up prices of rolled steel and related products, thus escalating the inflationary pressure.

According to the statistical bureau, China's factory-gate price index rose eight percent in March, 8.1 percent in April, 8.2 percent in May and 8.8 percent in June. It will affect the consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge of inflation, in six months or one year.

The country's CPI rise hit a 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in February, and averaged 7.9 percent for the first half of this year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)