BEIJING - China's Finance Ministry has said that it plans to increase support for agriculture this year as part of the government's general effort to put a halt to growing commodity prices.

Xie Xuren, the finance minister, made the remark at the 12th China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday, where he told the gathering that fiscal measures could play a major role in the fight against inflation.

But economists and industry analysts have pointed out that the recent earthquake in Japan and the military strikes in Libya could make it more difficult for China to control inflation.