Premier Wen vows to prevent inflation

BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to prevent inflation with a "moderately loose" monetary policy and to secure a bountiful agricultural harvest this year in an online chat with netizens on Saturday.

China will continue to implement a "moderately loose" monetary policy and ensure stable and comparatively fast economic growth while managing inflationary prospects, he said.

"I believe we will be able to maintain stable and comparatively fast economic growth while keeping consumer prices at a reasonable level," the premier said.

Inflation in China is reemerging after nine months of deflation.

China's consumer price index (CPI), the main inflation gauge, rose 1.5 percent year on year in January this year, mainly driven by food price increases on account of cold winter weather, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The CPI rose 1.9 percent year on year in December last year. But for full year 2009, the CPI fell 0.7 percent.

It started falling in February last year, when the CPI was down 1.6 percent on the global financial crisis -- the first monthly fall since December 2002.