China puts top priority on inflation

BEIJING, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Chinese leaders added inflation as a top concern in the effort to keep the economy from overheating next year.

The decision by the Political Bureau of Communist Party of China Central Committee, which was chaired by President Hu Jintao, comes as China faces mounting pressures from rising domestic prices, Xinhua reported.

The main effort will be to prevent the national economy from overheating as the GDP continues to grow in double-digits year after year. Economic planners also will seek to avoid real inflation creeping on the back of current price hikes.

At the Political Bureau's conference in July, overheating risk was the only macro control target set but the change this time is dictated by soaring prices, the report said.

China's 2007 economic growth is expected to exceed 11 percent while the increase in the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, is expected to be up 4.5 percent from last year, or far higher than the government's target of 3 percent.

China's central bank has said excessive growth in investment, ballooning trade surplus and credit remain the most prominent problems in the Chinese economy.