March 6, 2008
Premier Wen Jiabao delivered the National Government’s annual work report at the opening meeting of the First Session of the 11th National People’s Congress.
Wen’s image appears on the front page of most daily newspapers on the mainland today. The Beijing News captured an exchange between the premier and the president.
The lead headline reads “CPI increase should be controlled to around 4.8%.”
Other headlines:
• The Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce published a draft regulation about e-commerce, seeking the public’s opinion. The regulation says that individuals do not need to be licensed to sell or trade goods online if they are not conducting business as a for-profit enterprise. The regulation is intended to cover the use of auction and e-commerce sites such as Taobao.
• Ministries of Education and Finance will co-sponsor a temporary subsidy for all college students, covering 20 yuan worth of food per month from March through June.
• Yesterday, a suspect who kidnapped a foreign tourist and an interpreter and held them hostage was shot down by police in Xi’an. Both hostages were rescued safely.