BEIJING - A senior government official said on Wednesday that price rises have continued to slow since the beginning of the year as a result of improving supply-demand relations and dropping prices for some bulk commodities in the international market.

Zhang Ping, minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, said while briefing national lawmakers at a bimonthly session of the National People's Congress that the government's policies and measures have been effective and the country's economic growth is stabilizing at a slow pace.

According to Zhang, speculative and investment demand have been effectively suppressed due to government control policies for the real estate market. In July, prices for newly-built commercial residential buildings showed a year-on-year decrease in 58 out of 70 major Chinese cities.

China's top legislature began its bimonthly session on Monday. Zhang made the remarks while delivering a report on the implementation of a national economic and social development plan for the first half of the year.