The government has started to temporarily intervene in the market to control the prices of a range of daily necessities such as grain and meat, and rein in inflationary pressure.

The prices of grain products, edible oil, pork, beef, mutton, milk, eggs and liquefied petroleum gas are being monitored and any rises have been subject to government approval from Tuesday, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, said yesterday.

The move highlights rising concern about the surging consumer price index - a key gauge of inflation - which jumped 6.9 percent last November, the highest in a decade.