China will crack down on the hoarding of vegetables to curb speculation and maintain market order, the National Development and Reform Commission said Thursday.

China's top economic planner urged local governments to step up efforts to strengthen market monitoring and clamp down on speculators who force up the prices of vegetables including green beans and garlic.

Profiteers' illicit earnings will be confiscated and they may face fines of up to one million yuan (146,000 U.S. dollars), the commission said in a statement posted on its website.

Partly due to higher farm produce prices, China's consumer price index (CPI), an important gauge of inflation, rose 2.8 percent year on year in April, slightly below the 3-percent central-government target.

The commission has projected second-quarter CPI will continue to rise with CPI in May and June at around 3 percent. But it also said prices of vegetables and fruits should drop as temperatures rise with the start of summer.