Shanghai's consumer prices rose at their fastest pace this year in October, highlighting the inflationary pressure which the whole nation is facing.

Meanwhile, the city's trade continued to record stable growth, with exports moderating and imports rising further. With robust industrial production and retail sales in Shanghai, analysts said the city is moving steadily to reach its goal of 8 percent economic growth this year.

The Consumer Price Index surged 4.1 percent from a year earlier last month, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday. The pace was slower than the national average of 4.4 percent in October, which hit a 25-month high. But still, Shanghai's CPI was up sharply from its increase of 3.7 percent in September and 3.2 percent in August.

"The top priority for the city government now is to tame inflation," said Wang Zehua, an analyst at the bureau.

China last week announced a raise in the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points to soak up liquidity and fight inflation.

The city government strengthen oversight on price rises and increase supply to guarantee normal market order, Wang said.

Shanghai's exports grow 18.1 percent year on year to US$15.7 billion in October, down 4 percentage points from the pace in the previous month. Imports, however, swelled 27.6 percent to US$14.5 billion, up from the increase of 22.4 percent in September.

Industrial production in Shanghai expanded 16.7 percent on an annual basis to 257.9 billion yuan (US$38.9 billion) last month, bucking the national trend by rising further from 15.9 percent in September. China's industrial output grew 13.1 percent year-on-year in October, the third consecutive month reporting a slower pace.

"Shanghai's economy has a better foundation than many other cities in the country," said Li Maoyu, an analyst at the Changjiang Securities Co. "It is powered more by advanced manufacturing and less affected by external changes. Besides, local government has better control over things like price rises."

Last month, Shanghai's six key industries, electronics, automobiles, petrochemistry, fine steel, machinery equipment and biomedicine, said their combined production jumped 17.3 percent on an annual basis to 169.7 billion yuan, above the average growth of 16.7 percent.

Shanghai's retail sales in October expanded 19.2 percent from a year earlier to 54.4 billion yuan, up 1 percentage point from a month earlier.

In the first half of this year, Shanghai's economy grew 12.7 percent from a year earlier. The third-quarter GDP figure has yet to be released but analysts are confident Shanghai will achieve its goal of 8 percent growth this year.