Fears about inflation in China have been fuelled following the news that consumer price inflation soared to a 28-month high of 5.1% in November - with the forecast that it will still average 4/5% next year.

November's figure is a jump compared to October's inflation figure of 4.4% - and is above the official inflation target of 3%.

In order to slow the economy, the Peoples' Bank of China has raised banks' required cash reserves, which will curtail their ability to create new loans, thus slowing down the economy.

China's strong export growth for November has also fuelled fears about its economy overheating. According to customs statistics, the value of November's exports shot up by 34.9% year-on-year, to reach USD153 billion. This included a 33% rise in exports to Europe and a 29.3% increase in cargo going to the US.

The growth of imports was actually greater - registering 37.7% compared to last year (USD130 billion), but the figures meant that the trade surplus still widened by 15% compared to the same period last year, reaching USD23 billion.

Despite the rise in imports to China, the imbalance is still ongoing - with Hiroshi Ogwawa, managing director, MOL, China, telling CI-eXpress that on the transpacific, the ratio was currently about 2:1, leading to a shortage of containers for exports.