BEIJING - Expectations from the Chinese public have lessened in the fourth quarter for consumer prices to continue to register high growth in the first quarter of next year, according to survey results released Thursday by the nation's central bank.

Nearly 37 percent of the 20,000 residents surveyed in 50 cities predicted inflation to heighten in the following quarter, down 12.8 percent compared to the third quarter, the People's Bank of China, the central bank said in the survey.

However, a majority of the residents, 68.7 percent, still believe that current consumer prices are too high. The percentage dropped 3.2 percentage points compared to the third quarter.

Only 29.6 percent think current prices are acceptable, with the percentage up 3.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.

After a slew of tightening measures by the government this year, including six hikes of banks' reserve requirement ratio and three raises of interest rates, the consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, eased to 4.2 percent in November from 6.5 percent in July, which at that time was the highest in three years.