BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- 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 Jan. 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 highest economic priority in 2008.

China walks fine line to preserve growth while fighting inflation

    BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Many factors are driving up inflation in China, some of them being felt throughout the world, and the government is turning to various methods to deal with the situation.

    Some of these tools, like monetary tightening, are widely used. Others, like price caps and "moral suasion" in the form of warnings to industries, are viewed with skepticism in some economic quarters.  Full story

China intervenes in commodity prices to ease inflation

    BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's top economic planner has announced price controls on a package of products, including grain, edible oil, meat, milk, eggs and liquefied petroleum gas, Xinhua learned Wednesday from a work conference of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

    "Major enterprises are required to submit the price-raising scheme to the government for official approval 10 working days before they intend to raise the prices," said the NDRC in a circular on interim price intervention. The move is believed to be a bid to tackle inflation.    Full story

China pledges to steady prices amid inflation concerns

    BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China said on Monday it would take legal, economic and the necessary administrative measures to stabilize prices, a move that underscores its growing inflation concern.

    The upward pressure on prices was increasing and the rapid rises in food prices have had a big impact on people's lives, said a televised conference held by the State Council, or cabinet, and attended by Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan.  Full story