Chinese premier stresses logistics during MOC visit

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday stressed the role of logistics in expanding domestic demand.

The global economy has been through ups and downs in the past 10 years, with China increasingly integrated into the worldwide economic system and now the country needs to balance domestic growth and opening-up, Wen said while visiting the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

It is crucial to transfer the growth pattern of foreign trade and optimize the structure of foreign trade products, market structure and regional structure, Wen said.

He highlighted stable market supply and prices around the Spring Festival, which will fall on Feb. 10 this year.

Programs must be upgraded to channel reserves into the market at a proper time, according to Wen, who added that in adverse weather and over the Spring Festival holidays, key cities in northern China should release vegetable reserves to the market.

More work should be done to monitor prices, cracking down on illegal hoarding for speculation or rumor-spreading to inflate prices, the premier said.

He also called for logistics to be streamlined to cut fees.