Price regulation top priority: Premier Wen Jiabao

BEIJING, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Stabilizing consumer prices remains the top priority of the Chinese government's macro-regulation agenda, Premier Wen Jiabao wrote in an article to be published Thursday in the latest issue of Qiushi magazine.

The government will resolutely implement the property market regulation policy to ensure its effectiveness, Wen said in the article.

Qiushi, or Seeking Truth, is the Communist Party of China Central Committee's flagship magazine.

Commenting on China's slower growth, Wen said to a large extent it was because of the government's macro-regulation policies, but growth had been kept at a reasonable level and also within expectations.

In general, the economy was sound, amid improving relations between quality and quantity, structure and efficiency. However, some salient conflicts have been compromised, he said.

Wen noted more attention has been given to taming runaway price hikes since this year. Also, the government has done more to lessen the impact of economic and non-economic factors on the economy, and sort out problems which have a close bearing on people's interests in order to consolidate and expand the results of the fight against the global financial crisis.

"Our country's economic development continues to face a very complicated, unstable and uncertain environment both at home and abroad. We should keep a sober mind, enhance our awareness of risks, and have full expectations of the complexity and severity of the present situation," Wen wrote.

China's Consumer Price Index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, is hovering at high levels driven by soaring food prices that account for one third of the weight.