"The fundamental way to stabilize prices is to achieve a balance of supply and demand, which requires continuous development of agriculture," said the premier, adding that the central government has worked out measures to boost agricultural production.

China's central bank announced Saturday to raise the one-year lending rate to 5.81 percent and one-year deposit rate to 2.75 percent, effective from Sunday.

HOUSING PRICES

Wen also pledged to press forward housing price control.

"In an interview last year, I had promised to maintain housing prices at a reasonable level in my term. I will not hold back but continue working hard to realize this goal," he said.

Government policies introduced this year to control housing prices were, on the face of it, not implemented well, he said, adding that more efforts were needed.

Wen said the government will increase the supply of affordable houses for low-income earners.

This year about 3.7 million such apartments have been built nationwide and in 2011 the government will start building 10 million more apartments for low-income groups, he said.

China will also try to curb speculation in the real estate market, mainly through control on credit and land use, he said.

"I am confident that housing prices will return to a reasonable level through our efforts," he said.

In addition, Wen said people should understand that not everyone can own a house given China's population and limited land.

Some university graduates who have just begun to work and some migrant farmers working in cities can rent an apartment first, he said.
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