China on Wednesday reinforced policies aimed at preventing an economic overheating, saying the government should continue to control growth in credit and fixed-asset investment.
A regular meeting of the State Council, or cabinet, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, signalled no change in policies guiding the world's seventh biggest economy heading into the fourth quarter of 2005.
Worried that overheated sectors such as property and metals production could unbalance the overall economy, China's policy makers have moved to restrict lending and investment over the past two years.
"We must control the scale of fixed-asset investment. We must maintain a tight grip on the two valves of land and credit, strictly control the start of new projects and work to optimise the investment structure," the Xinhua news agency quoted the meeting as concluding.
The meeting also repeated calls to keep grain prices stable and boost grain output. Soaring grain prices were a major factor behind a surge in inflation last year that hit an annual rate of 5.3 percent in August 2004.
Consumer price inflation has since cooled, to an annual rate of 1.3 percent this August. The government should also try to ensure the supply of petrol and other oil products.
"We must do a good job in the supply of oil products and price adjustment. We must actively advance reforms of the oil product circulation system," Xinhua said.
Xinhua gave no details, but the booming southern province of Guangdong saw widespread fuel shortages earlier this year. China caps the price of petrol at the pump, squeezing the margins of refiners who are facing soaring crude oil costs.
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