China's State Council warned yesterday about the risks of inflation and pledged to curb rapid increases in housing costs as new figures showed that property prices were continuing to accelerate.

In a statement released last night, the State Council said that the dramatic increase in property values in some cities had become a “prominent problem” after government figures released earlier in the day showed urban housing prices in March rose 11.7 per cent during the previous 12 months, up from 10.7 per cent the month before and the biggest increase since the index began nearly five years ago.

The warning came ahead of the expected announcement today that the Chinese economy grew by close to 12 per cent in the first quarter of the year, the fastest rate in three years and underlining the risk that China's robust recovery from the global crisis could end in overheating. “Some factors that are pushing up prices have appeared, strengthening inflationary expectations,” the State Council said.