China's Premier Wen Jiabao said on Wednesday macro control
measures should be further strengthened to prevent the fast-growing
national economy from overheating.
The monetary policies should be stable in general but "moderately
tightened" to secure a stable and fast-growing economy, said
Premier Wen at a meeting of the State Council.
Wen said the country will continue to implement its current prudent
fiscal and monetary policies.
He called for fiscal policies to be more supportive of industrial
restructuring.
He said industrial production is growing at a rate that is faster
than desired and the trade surplus is too big.
China's trade surplus in May soared to US$22.45 billion, up 73
percent from the same month last year.
Wen said the country would continue to adjust export rebates and
tariffs on certain items while further improving policies to boost
imports in a bid to address the climbing trade surplus.
Sustained fast growth of investment, excessive liquidity in the
capital market and rising inflation pressure also deserve more
attention, said Wen.
Wen said the government would control the supply of land and bank
loans to high energy-consuming projects.
He also said financial, fiscal and taxation measures should be
employed to guide the flow of capital. He said there should be more
channels for capital outflow and for the use of foreign
exchange.
Rising food prices have caused the consumer price index (CPI) to
rise 3.4 percent in May, higher than the government's target of
three percent.
Wen pledged to stabilize food prices by ensuring the food supply
and enhanced supervision over food quality.
(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2007)