CPI to remain high before easing in 2nd half

The consumer price index is expected to remain high in the first half of the year before easing in the second, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said yesterday.

Prices will stabilize at a relatively high level in the coming months when the impact of snowstorms that hit parts of southern and central China in January and February fades, Chen told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the National People's Congress, the lawmaking body.

The CPI - a key gauge of inflation - rose 8.7 percent in February, the highest since 1996, after hitting 7.1 percent in January.