HONG KONG  Consumer prices in China surged to a 8.7 percent annual rate in February from a 7.1 percent rate in January, the fastest pace of increase in more than 11 years, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday morning.

Food prices were the biggest contributor, up 23.3 percent from February of last year. Snowstorms in China damaged harvests and interfered with food deliveries to cities, while rising global commodity prices made imports more expensive.

“The current price hikes and increasing inflationary pressures are the biggest concern of the people,” Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said in a speech last Wednesday.

The Chinese government imposed complex price controls in January on a range of farm products, like cooking oil and grain. In a speech on Sunday, President Hu Jintao of China urged local governments to maintain stable prices for vegetables and other perishables, which suffered particular losses during the storms.