China Targets 8% Growth as Wen Pledges to Rein in Inflation
March 04, 2011, 8:08 PM EST

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- China’s government will target 8 percent economic growth this year and “decisively” curb increases in prices that could affect social stability, Premier Wen Jiabao said in his annual state-of-the-nation report.

“We cannot allow price rises to affect the normal lives of low-income people,” Wen said in a report to the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress in Beijing today. He confirmed a goal of holding inflation to 4 percent for the full year....

The budget deficit may be 900 billion yuan ($137 billion), or 2 percent of gross domestic product, Wen said. He confirmed that the nation is maintaining a “proactive” fiscal policy and a “prudent” monetary policy.

Top Priority

“Inflation expectations have increased” and controlling price is the top economic priority, Wen said. The government will manage liquidity, ensure agricultural production and use price controls when needed, he added.

The premier had already disclosed an annual growth target of 7 percent for the nation’s five-year plan, running from 2011 to 2015, down from the previous 7.5 percent. The goals are routinely surpassed, with China’s economy expanding an average 11 percent over the past five years, adding jobs and boosting incomes.

The premier will read his report to more than 4,000 delegates gathered at the Great Hall of the People, alongside Tiananmen Square....

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-04/china-targets-8-growth-as-we...

China says it will tackle inflation, boost incomes

By CHARLES HUTZLER, The Associated Press, March 4, 2011

BEIJING — China's government vowed Saturday to clamp down on inflation and urgently raise incomes as it pushes to spread the benefits of economic growth at a time when living standards are rising but so are popular calls for greater change.

In a speech that is China's equivalent to the American president's State of the Union address, Premier Wen Jiabao said there would be more assistance to working class and rural Chinese who have not benefited from the country's rapid growth....

http://www.ajc.com/business/china-says-it-will-860525.html