High inflation and fixed-asset investment growth are China's biggest economic concerns, prompting authorities to persist with a tight monetary policy, Vice-Premier Wang Qishan said on Friday.

In an address to the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, Wang also said the government would take specific measures, including prudent fiscal policies and strengthened and refined macroeconomic controls, to curb an overheated economy and inflation.

His remarks were made prior to Monday's release of the consumer price index for April, 8.2 percent according to Bloomberg's survey of 22 economists.

The figure is slightly lower than March's inflation but still much higher than the government's goal of 4.8 percent for the whole year.

China's producer price index, another key inflation indicator, rose 8.1 percent in April - the fastest pace in more than three years.

"China's economy continues to grow fast," Wang said. "But the economy is facing contradictions and problems. Prices are relatively high, while fixed-asset investments have not returned to rational levels."

China's economy, the world's fourth largest, expanded 10.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the ninth straight quarter of growth of more than 10 percent.

Wang, the former Beijing mayor now in charge of China's financial sector, also called for tighter controls on cross-border capital flows to ensure stability in the financial system.

"We will continue to strengthen supervision over cross-border capital flows and accelerate the development of the financial security network," he said.

(China Daily May 10, 2008)