China's consumer price index (CPI),a major inflation indicator, could jump by 3 percent this year or double last year's CPI increase, said Wang Jian, secretary-general of the Chinese Academy of Macro-Economy.

Inflation control will be a major priority of the government, Wang said in an interview, adding that a CPI increase beyond three percent can't be ruled out.

The recent hikes in grain prices are sure to cause the CPI to rise, he said.

Despite bumper crops last year the price of wheat, corn and soybean, have been on the rise since November 2006, due to increasing prices on international markets. The Chinese government released some of its national stockpiles in an attempt to offset price jumps, but they have still risen beyond the government's target level.

In the first 11 months of 2006, China's CPI rose 1.3 percent over the same 2005 period, but in November it rose 1.9 percent compared to the same month in the previous year. It was the highest monthly rise of the year.

Some economists predicted the December's CPI would jump to 2.5 percent due to rising cost of food, which is a major component of the CPI.

While maintaining a GDP growth rate of around 10 percent annually over the past number of years, China has controlled inflation at a fairly low level. The CPI in 2005 rose by 1.8 percent.

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