Premier: Curbing inflation tops govt agenda

Whether or not the worst has passed, Wen said, "we are confident that we can keep inflation at bay."

Wen also said the government will control liquidity to curb rises in housing prices. "We will eliminate the monetary basis for rises in housing and food prices."

It will also provide more affordable housing for low-income earners, with 36 million units to be built by 2015, Wen said.

Other measures to improve people's living standards include increases in the minimum purchase prices of grain from farmers, Wen said.

"The minimum prices will continue to be raised significantly," he said.

Farmers will also benefit from expanded access to job opportunities in cities. He said there are 242 million migrants from rural areas working in the cities.

Those measures to improve people's living standards are important for the country's sustained growth, said Ross.

"China's population must benefit from its economic development. Over the long run, popular support for such a policy, which improves China's quality of life, will allow China to maintain a high level of growth that will benefit the world economy," he told China Daily.

Wen said China will continue to stick to the reform of the formation mechanism of the yuan exchange rate. "The appreciation of yuan must be gradual, because it affects jobs and raises pressure on enterprises and employment, and we must maintain the overall social stability," he said.

Wen also recalled the difficult situation between the end of 2008 and the first half of 2009 when international trade plummeted and China's economic growth fell sharply.

"It's with very hard efforts we managed to make the Chinese economy one of the first in the world to achieve a recovery and rebound, and avoid setbacks in China's economic development," he said.