The report comes after China reported on Tuesday that a 18.2 percent leap in the cost of food propelled the country's annual consumer price inflation to 6.5 percent in August, the fastest pace in nearly 11 years.

A senior party researcher warned on Monday that inflation becomes difficult to control once it exceeds 5 percent, while a local paper said Beijing had told schools and colleges in the capital not to raise canteen food prices as inflation climbs.

The government will continue to provide subsidies to farmers who have converted their farmland into forest to compensate their loss of income, the agency said.