As the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) released a new green paper on the issue, it predicted that grain prices are likely to grow 7 per cent and livestock prices may jump 12 per cent year on year in 2012.

It is estimated that fishery products will see a 5-per cent rise in price, according to the paper, which analyzes the development of China's rural regions in 2011 and predicts their development in 2012.

China's food prices, which account for roughly a third of the weighting in calculating the consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation in China, surged 11.8 per cent year on year in 2011, pushing the index to grow 5.4 per cent, well above the government's control target of 4 per cent.

Prices of pork, China's favorite meat, saw great rises in the middle of last year, stirring public concerns of stubbornly high inflation in the country. However, the CPI has shown signs of easing in the first quarter of 2012.

It rose 4.5 per cent in January and narrowed to a 3.2-per cent increase in February before rebounding to 3.6 per cent in March. The government aims to keep the CPI increase at around 4 per cent this year.