China is still likely to meet its full-year inflation target this year despite the August inflation rate quickening to a 22-month high of 3.5 percent year on year, officials from the country' s top economic planer said Wednesday.

In August, the consumer price index (CPI) rose mainly by increased prices of food products like pork and eggs, as the coming Mid-Autumn festival in China had boosted the consumption of food items, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Further, the price rise of vegetables due to seasonal reasons contributed to the August CPI increase, said the NDRC authorities.

The upcoming autumn harvest, which accounts for about 70 percent of China's annual grain output, is expected to stabilize food prices, which have a one-third weighting in the calculation of the CPI, said the NDRC.

The NDRC also revealed that China would place central pork reserves on the market, which means pork prices cannot rise higher.

Further, the industrial consumer prices are remaining stable with a slight decline, and this is not conducive to inflation, according to the NDRC.

These elements are assisting in the drop of the CPI through the rest of the year, and is helpful for China to attain its full year inflation target, it added.

China has targeted a 3 percent rise in consumer prices this year.

(China Daily September 16, 2010)