China's top economic planning body the National Development and
reform Commission (NDRC) has urged local authorities to stay
vigilant against chain reactions in price hike.
"When the price of a certain product increases sharply, measures
should be made immediately to curb its spreading effects. The
rising margin of the price should be strictly controlled, when it
surpasses the increasing range of its cost," said Bi Jingquan,
deputy minister of NDRC at a national meeting on the price
supervision held Friday in the capital of south China's Guangdong
Province.
"The combined effects from the price hike on the global market
and the overstock and exorbitant money supply on the domestic
market has made the work arduous to prevent inflation next year,"
said Bi.
The consumer price index, a major gauge of inflation, is likely
to climb 4.7 percent in 2007, said Yao Jingyuan, chief economist of
the National Bureau of Statistics Friday.
Bi said that the price supervision by market regulatory
authorities will be a major effort to stabilize market price, which
should be underscored next year to curb the rising momentum of the
inflation rate.
He urged local price regulatory authorities to stay vigilant on
market signs and trends that might trigger price augments. "A
contingency mechanism should be embarked on in necessary situations
to curb price hike," said Bi.
He emphasized such "necessary situations" as the Spring Festival (China's Lunar New Year, which
will start on Feb. 6, 2008), the Beijing Olympic Games in August and the
National Day holiday in October.
He asked local authorities to check irregular price hikes
suggested in public complaints.
(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2007)