Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday China's economy had developed satisfactorily in the first quarter of this year but "some key problems still remain".

In the first quarter, China's economy grew steadily and fast, farm production was stable, industrial restructuring made new progress and both the employment rate and people's incomes rose markedly, said Wen.

But "China found it difficult to raise grain output and farmers' incomes, the challenge of reducing energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions proved arduous, money and credit grew excessively, and fixed assets investment and the trade surplus continued to increase", said Wen.

To prevent the economy from overheating, the Chinese government should promptly take economic and legal measures and strengthen macro control.

Subsidies should be provided to farmers to help them with grain production and the subsidies for purchasing production materials such as fertilizer and machine tools should be allocated and the country's minimum purchasing prices for grain must not be lower than last year, said Wen.

China should curb the fast growth in products that consume too much energy and lose no time in eliminating outdated production methods.

To prevent fixed assets investment from rebounding, stricter market access and environmental standards should be set for new construction projects and land use should continue to be tightened.

Facing excess liquidity, China should curb the excessive supply of money and credit, strengthen supervision of cross-border flows of short-term capital and improve foreign currency management.

Wen also said China should clear up policies that give exports inappropriate preferences and expand its imports of advanced technology and equipment.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2007)