China is not falling into a period of significant inflation, even though consumer prices rose by a 33-month-high annual rate of 4.4 percent in June, a statistics official said in comments published on Monday.

The central bank on Friday raised interest rates for the third time this year, saying it was doing so in part to maintain price stability.

"I don't think China has entered a stage of serious inflation," Yao Jingyuan, chief economist at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), was quoted by the China Economic Times as saying.

Yao's comments echo those made last week by the statistics agency's spokesman, Li Xiaochao.

In assessing the jump in the consumer price index beyond the government's comfort level of 3 percent, Li said that core CPI in the first half, stripping out food and energy, remained below 1 percent.