China will continue with the current macro-economic policy to seek steady, fast economic growth in 2006, said Ma Kai, minister in charge of the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC), Saturday in Beijing.

But more efforts will be given to addressing the challenges brought by oversupply in some industrial sectors, said Ma at the year-end national development and reform meeting that opened here Saturday.

The meeting gathered senior officials of economic policy-making and made concrete economic plans for the next year.

China will seek prudent fiscal and monetary policies next year to maintain the momentum of stable and fast economic growth, said Ma.

Priority will be given on projects improving the living and work conditions in the rural areas, as well as basic education, pubic health and scientific research.

Ma warned that the oversupply in steel, coke and auto sectors have threatened the job opportunities.

"If we don't effectively address the problem immediately, a large number of companies will go bankruptcy and many people lose their jobs," said Ma.

SDRC statistics showed that in October this year, the steel price fell as low as that in 2003. Prices of some steel products are even lower than the production cost.

Credit loans to these overheated sectors must be tightly controlled next year, said Ma.

For a sustained economic development, Ma said China would expand the domestic consumption by improving the income of urban residents.

China will push forward the reform of public servants' salary and increase the minimum living allowance for urban residents living.

But Ma expressed his worry that farmers' income increase might be hindered next year due to dropping grain prices and climbing prices of farming materials.

The grain sales prices to urban residents started to fall from April this year. In October, the price is 0.8 percent lower than last October. But the prices of farming materials went up 9.1 percent in October compared with last year.

Ma said China would grant subsidy to farmers on chemical fertilizer and diesel in cash next year. The country would take concrete measures to help farmers in raising poultry.

Ma said China would go all out to crack down on the illegal charging in education and medical service. The high telecommunication cost, for example in cell phone and Internet service, will also be lowered.

Source: Xinhua