Curbing price hikes

Premier Wen Jiabao's latest vow to suppress sharp rises in commodity prices that affect people's immediate interests highlighted the increasing urgency of fighting soaring inflation.

Some administrative intervention, such as setting a price ceiling to regulate the market, may soon be rolled out to curb price hikes. But to prevent overall inflation from running out of control, Chinese policymakers must take much bolder actions to turn off the liquidity tap.

After the prices of 18 staple vegetables were reported to have risen 62.4 percent across the country during the first 10 days of this month, compared to a year earlier, Premier Wen urged local governments to guarantee supplies of daily food and other necessities, so as to maintain market order.