Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- China faces ``relatively high'' inflationary pressures, said Han Yongwen, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top planning agency.

The inflation rate was 7.1 percent last month, the highest in more than 11 years. The first-quarter rate may be 6.9 percent because of rising transportation costs and disrupted food supply, the planning body-affiliated State Information Center said today.

Snowstorms starting in mid-January in provinces such as Zhejiang, Guangxi and Jiangxi closed factories, paralyzed transportation and disrupted food and power supplies, pushing up prices that had begun to soar last year.

The snowstorms won't have a lasting effect on economic growth, Han said today at a financial forum in the eastern city of Suzhou. He said the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis won't have a significant impact on the economy. China will step up measures aimed at controlling real estate prices, he said.

China is ``confident'' of being able to curb inflation, Ma Delun, vice governor of the People's Bank of China, said at the same conference in Suzhou today.

The bank will stick with tight monetary policy until its fight against rising prices is successful, Yi Gang, another central bank vice governor said last week.

To contact the reporters on this story: Li Yanping in Beijing at yli16@bloomberg.net; Josephine Lau in Beijing at jlau22@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 27, 2008 22:02 EST