China will keep its economic policy focused on taming inflation in the second quarter, though a slowing world economy is set to weigh more heavily on domestic growth, the country's top planning body said on Tuesday.
Consumer inflation eased to an annual 8.3 per cent in March from a nearly 12-year high of 8.7 per cent in February, but it is still well above the government's target of 4.8 per cent for the whole year.
The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement that the economy faced a series of problems, including excessive rises in the prices of production materials and the potential of an unwanted rebound in investment in energy-intensive sectors.
'The world economic slowdown, financial market turbulence, increasing trade disputes and continuously rising input costs will further impact the Chinese economy,' it added in the statement, distributed to reporters ahead of a news conference.
The agency singled out soaring prices for steel, oil, coal and copper as posing challenges, and said it wanted in particular to keep investment in the steel and construction materials sectors in check.
In keeping with the government's aim of increasing energy efficiency and cutting pollution, the agency vowed to strictly control blind expansion of energy-intensive and polluting sectors and to curb exports of such goods but did not elaborate on specific measures.
Many businesses have said recently that increasing costs of labour and other inputs have been eroding China's competitiveness, especially for lower-end manufacturing firms.
The NDRC acknowledged that labour-intensive companies were facing pressures, and added that some small firms were facing difficulties in light of the rising costs.
It added that China faced a challenge to ensure fuel supplies to thermal power plants because the price they pay for coal is not fully in line with market prices.
Consumer inflation eased to an annual 8.3 per cent in March from a nearly 12-year high of 8.7 per cent in February, but it is still well above the government's target of 4.8 per cent for the whole year.
The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement that the economy faced a series of problems, including excessive rises in the prices of production materials and the potential of an unwanted rebound in investment in energy-intensive sectors.
'The world economic slowdown, financial market turbulence, increasing trade disputes and continuously rising input costs will further impact the Chinese economy,' it added in the statement, distributed to reporters ahead of a news conference.
The agency singled out soaring prices for steel, oil, coal and copper as posing challenges, and said it wanted in particular to keep investment in the steel and construction materials sectors in check.
In keeping with the government's aim of increasing energy efficiency and cutting pollution, the agency vowed to strictly control blind expansion of energy-intensive and polluting sectors and to curb exports of such goods but did not elaborate on specific measures.
Many businesses have said recently that increasing costs of labour and other inputs have been eroding China's competitiveness, especially for lower-end manufacturing firms.
The NDRC acknowledged that labour-intensive companies were facing pressures, and added that some small firms were facing difficulties in light of the rising costs.
It added that China faced a challenge to ensure fuel supplies to thermal power plants because the price they pay for coal is not fully in line with market prices.
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