Soaring house prices and poor air quality emerged as the main issues of concern for the Chinese, many of whom would like the ongoing meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing to address them, a CCTV report claimed yesterday.

The state television interviewed a host of people for the report. Most of them said rising housing prices were an issue for them, while others highlighted the worsening situation about pollution.

And not surprisingly, they wanted to see the government act on them at the four-day Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, which started on Saturday.

"Prices in general and property prices are all very high," said one person. "People can no longer afford to buy as much as they used to."

"The gap between the rich and the poor is too big," said another. "Inflation is too high and the retirement pension is too low."

China's new home prices grew for the fifth straight month in October. The average price of new residential properties across 100 mainland cities rose 0.17 percent from September to 8,768 yuan (US$1,405) per square meter, according to Soufun.com, China's largest real estate website.

Meanwhile, severe air pollution spread over many cities in China from the north to east. Last Thursday, Shanghai experienced this autumn's first heavily polluted day with the PM2.5 density nearly four times the national limit.

Other areas of concern are pension problem, general price hike and employment.