UPDATE 1-China's Wen: must balance jobs and inflation

* China's Wen says hard to control inflation in H1

* But adds that he's confident China will curb price rises

* Says can't let economy slow too much (adds quotes, details)

By Kevin Yao

BEIJING, March 14 (Reuters) - China faces a tough task in finding a balance between creating jobs and cooling inflation, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Monday, denying his government risks the kind of political upheaval that has beset parts of the Middle East.

He said the first half would be a challenging period, with loose monetary policies in foreign countries, high global commodity costs and rising wages in China all adding to upward pressure on prices.

However, reiterating that controlling inflation was Beijing's top policy priority this year, Wen said the government would be successful in its efforts.

"I don't want to repeat my words too much. I only want to say that we are confident that we can manage inflation properly," he told a news conference at the end of the annual parliament session, which approved China's 2011-2015 development plan.

Wen pointed to factors beyond the country's borders as the major cause of Chinese inflation, which has been running just shy of a two-year high. He noted that oil costs were soaring in the wake of unrest in the Middle East and also blamed loose monetary policies in developed countries, a thinly veiled reference to the United States.

"The inflation we're experiencing now is in fact international in nature," he said. "Imported inflation is having a big impact on China, and that's something we cannot easily control."

It was the third time in slightly more than two weeks that Wen had emphasised the government's commitment to reining in inflation, which China's leaders fear could fan discontent and erode the standing of the ruling Communist Party.

Chinese inflation topped expectations at 4.9 percent in the year to February and looks set to climb higher in coming months.

But Wen was careful to say that Beijing would not forsake growth in its efforts to control prices.

"There is an inseparable connection between the pace of economic development, employment and inflation. When the pace of economic development is fast, there is more employment, but inflationary pressures are also bigger," he said.

"When the pace of economic development is slow, employment numbers are fewer, but it's also easy for the economy to slip into recession," he said.

"We must find a wise path between these two paths -- one that organically joins them together," Wen told a news conference at the end of China's annual parliamentary session.

China has set an official goal of 7 percent economic growth per year for 2011-2015, lower than the 7.5 percent it set for the previous five years. But those official goals have been far outpaced by double-digit growth.

To meet a goal of keeping inflation to a 4 percent average this year, the government has raised interest rates three times and banks' reserve requirements five times since October, while also using a series of direct controls to cap price rises.

Beijing has also imposed a slew of measures to target property prices that have stayed stubbornly high.

(Writing by Chris Buckley and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Ken Wills)