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Premier:CurbinginflationtopsgovtagendaPremierWenJiabaomeetsthepressaftertheclosingmeetingoftheFourthSessionofthe11thNationalPeople'sCongress(NPC)attheGreatHallofthePeopleinBeijingMarch14.BEIJING-Chinawillstepupeffortstoimprovepeople'slivelihoodsthroughholdingdowninflation,increasingaffordablehousingandraisingfarmers'incomes,PremierInflationwilltopthegovernment'sagendathisyear,Wensaid.Inflationislikeatiger;onceitgetsfree,itisdifficulttoputitbackinthecage,hesaidatthenewsconferenceattheclosingoftheannualNationalPeople'sCongresssession.Thecountryfacesbothdomesticandexternalchallengesinfightinginflation,whichreached4.9percentinFebruaryyear-on-year.Chinahassetatargetofkeepinginflationatorbelow4percentforthewholeyear.InternationalfactorsarebehindChina'sinflation,Wensaid,citingacertaincountry'squantitativeeasingpolicythathasledtodrasticcurrencyandcommoditypricefluctuations.TheUSFederalReserveannouncedinNovemberitwouldpump$600billionintotheUSeconomytobolstergrowth,whichanalystssaidwouldinturnraisetheriskofrisingpricesacrosstheworldasitleadstoaweakeningdollarandincreasingliquidity.Oilprices,forexample,haverecentlyhoveredataround$100abarrel.Aseveredifficultyisinternationalfoodpriceinflation,whichChinacannotcontrol,saidJohnRoss,visitingprofessoratAntaiCollegeofEconomicsandManagement,ShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity.ThiswillcontinueevenifexcessliquidityisremovedinsideChina,hesaid.Worse,someevenforecasttheUSFedmaycontinuetoinjectcapitalintothemarketafterJuneinaso-calledthirdroundofquantitativeeasing.Althoughheholdsthatthepossibilityisslim,Rosssaidifthereisathirdroundofeasing,itwillmakethesituationmoredifficultforChina,asitwillincreaseinternationalinflation.Chinawillstrengthengrainproductionandcirculationtoensurefoodpricesarestable,Wensaid.Increasingfoodpricesaccountforabout30percentofthecountry'sinflation.Experts,however,aredividedoverhowthepricetrendwillevolvethisyear.HISGlobalInsight,aconsultingfirm,saidinflationisyettopeakinChina.Thefullimpactoftheoilpriceshockisyettorevealitselfasthegovernmenthasbeenbehindthecurveinraisingtheretailgasolineprices,itsaidinaresearchnote.Besides,banklendingremainsrampantandliquidityisstrong,itsaid.However,BaShusong,senioreconomistoftheStateCouncil'sDevelopmentResearchCenter,saidthepeakmayhavepassed,thoughinflationcouldremainhighinthecomingmonthssinceitiscomingoffalowbasefromlastyear.Whetherornottheworsthaspassed,Wensaid,weareconfidentthatwecankeepinflationatbay.Wenalsosaidthegovernmentwillcontrolliquiditytocurbrisesinhousingprices.Wewilleliminatethemonetarybasisforrisesinhousingandfoodprices.Itwillalsoprovidemoreaffordablehousingforlow-incomeearners,with36millionunitstobebuiltby2015,Wensaid.Othermeasurestoimprovepeople'slivingstandardsincludeincreasesintheminimumpurchasepricesofgrainfromfarmers,Wensaid.Theminimumpriceswillcontinuetoberaisedsignificantly,hesaid.Farmerswillalsobenefitfromexpandedaccesstojobopportunitiesincities.Hesaidthereare242millionmigrantsfromruralareasworkinginthecities.Thosemeasurestoimprovepeople'slivingstandardsareimportantforthecountry'ssustainedgrowth,saidRoss.China'spopulationmustbenefitfromitseconomicdevelopment.Overthelongrun,popularsupportforsuchapolicy,whichimprovesChina'squalityoflife,willallowChinatomaintainahighlevelofgrowththatwillbenefittheworldeconomy,hetoldChinaDaily.WensaidChinawillcontinuetosticktothereformoftheformationmechanismoftheyuanexchangerate.Theappreciationofyuanmustbegradual,becauseitaffectsjobsandraisespressureonenterprisesandemployment,andwemustmaintaintheoverallsocialstability,hesaid.Wenalsorecalledthedifficultsituationbetweentheendof2008andthefirsthalfof2009wheninternationaltradeplummetedandChina'seconomicgrowthfellsharply.It'swithveryhardeffortswemanagedtomaketheChineseeconomyoneofthefirstintheworldtoachievearecoveryandrebound,andavoidsetbacksinChina'seconomicdevelopment,hesaid.