China premier vows anti-inflation focus
BEIJING—China's premier vowed to cool surging inflation as his new Cabinet took office Friday facing challenges including protests in Tibet, product safety complaints abroad and preparations for the Beijing Olympics.
Premier Wen Jiabao promised to complete basic work by June on a restructuring meant to create new agencies to tackle such issues as energy and environmental protection, according to a statement on the Cabinet Web site.
It made no mention of protests in Tibet, which have overshadowed a marathon campaign to cool inflation that soared to 8.7 percent in February, its highest in 12 years. The price surge has battered China's poor, raising the risk of unrest ahead of the Olympics.
"We will strive to maintain basic price stability," Wen told the Cabinet, according to the government statement.
"The crux is to use every possible means to increase market supplies and to grasp the organization and market regulation of such essentials as grain, oil, meat and vegetables," he was quoted as saying.
The statement gave no details of that or other initiatives.
Communist leaders face a welter of high-profile problems at a time when they wanted to focus on the Olympics, a national prestige event that they hope will showcase China's rapid development.
On Friday, thousands of troops were sent into ethnic Tibetan areas of China's west as the government hunted for people who took part in last week's violent anti-Chinese protests.
At the same time, the government is struggling to restore confidence in China's exports after a string of warnings and recalls abroad over faulty toys, tires, toothpaste, seafood and other goods.
On Friday, the country's drug safety agency ordered tighter controls on production of heparin after Chinese-made supplies of the blood thinner were linked to 19 deaths in the United States.
Wen also said Beijing will push ahead with reforms of its finance, tax, medical and public health systems.
Wen acknowledged at a nationally televised news conference this week that China faces pressure for inflation to accelerate still further. But he tried to reassure an anxious Chinese public, saying the government can hold price rises to its 4.8 percent target this year.
The rise in inflation was driven by a 23.3 percent jump in food costs in February over the same month last year, which has stirred fears of a political backlash in a society where families spend up to half their incomes on food.
The government has frozen gasoline and electricity prices and imposed price controls on food.
Bouts of high inflation in the 1980s and '90s sparked protests, a scenario that communist leaders are eager to avoid, especially as China comes under foreign scrutiny ahead of the Summer Games.
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On the Net:
Chinese Cabinet Web site: http://www.gov.cn
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