CPI subject to better controls in 2012: official

Beijing (CNS) -- China's consumer price index (CPI) will be under better control in 2012, as national economic growth is expected to slow, remarked Director Ma Jiantang at the State Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.

The February CPI increased by 3.2 percent year on year, lower than the yearly deposit rate of 3.5 percent for the first time in three years.

This year's government work report set the national goal for CPI control around 4% which, as Premier Wen Jiabao pointed out, has reserved room for national price reforms.

Ma anticipated the preliminary effects of price controls can be sustained through the cooperative endeavors of various government organs.