The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said Wednesday the slowdown of China's economic growth since the second quarter this year was a result of the government's economic restructuring policies.

China's economy grew 9.6 percent in the third quarter year-on-year, after rising 11.9 percent in the first quarter and 10.3 percent in the second quarter.

The slowdown also reflected China's efforts in curbing soaring property prices, restraining local government debt and strengthening energy saving and emission reduction efforts, the central bank said in its Q3-report released Wednesday.

The report said the slowdown was more conducive to further restructuring and sustainable development of the nation's economy.

The report also said price pressures should not be ignored after the consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.6 percent, a 23-month high in September.

The index rose 2.2 percent, 2.9 percent, and 3.5 percent, respectively, in the first three quarters of this year.

The CPI rose 2.9 percent for the first three quarters year-on-year after food prices, which account for about one-third of the index, rose 6.1 percent in the same period.

The central bank report said grain prices could rise further next year because of higher costs of farming and increasing industrial demand for grains. In addition, rising international food prices may also cause unwillingness to sell grains locally.

The Chinese government aims to keep the inflation rate under 3 percent this year.