INFLATIONARY pressure in China does not appear to be intensifying, a senior central bank official said Saturday.

Tang Xu, head of the research bureau of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said a recent rise in food costs, which account for about a third of China’s consumer price index (CPI), was unlikely to be sustained.

“I don’t think inflationary pressure in February was getting stronger,” Tang told reporters on the sidelines of a financial forum. But he declined to comment on whether or not annual consumer price inflation last month accelerated from January’s rate of 2.2 percent.