China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the
country's economic planner, said on Friday that the government
would continue a series of measures to curb price rises in
2008.
Prices began to climb noticeably last year, with the monthly CPI
figure hitting an 11-year-high of 6.9 percent in November, driving
up the annual CPI level to 4.8 percent, well above the government's
three-percent target. Correspondingly, public concern with
inflation intensified.
"The country will give further support to the agricultural
sector this year, increase the supply of agricultural products and
give a full play to both the domestic and international market
resources to stabilize prices," said the NDRC in a statement on its
website.
The country was also making efforts to control fertilizer
prices.
"The price of gasoline, natural gas, electricity, water, heating
and urban public transport fees, scenic spot ticket charges, and
school tuition will remain frozen in the near future, " said the
statement.
The NDRC announced on January 16 temporary price control
measures on a package of products, including grain, edible oil,
meat, milk, eggs and liquefied petroleum gas, a tough step to
tackle the inflation.
Meanwhile, it released the names of big Chinese enterprises and
wholesalers required to apply for official approval for price
rises. The recent clampdown on illegal pricing has helped to bring
down liquefied gas retail prices by 19 percent in major Chinese
cities.
Price caps have only been imposed only twice previously in the
past 12 years: in 1996, when the CPI hit a record 8.3 percent and
in 2003, during the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)
outbreak.
The NDRC called on its local branches to step up price checks
and law enforcement actions against commodity hoarding, price
rigging or other practices that disturbed the market order.
China's leaders made it clear at the annual central economic
conference last month that preventing economic overheating and
inflation was their top economic priority in 2008.
(Xinhua News Agency?January 26, 2008)
