Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said today that the government needed to make efforts from the beginning of the year to curb investment and credit growth.
Mr Wen also said that Beijing needed to maintain stable growth while avoiding big economic fluctuations.
The comments came just a day after China announced its latest economic growth data, which showed that the economy expanded by 10.7 per cent in 2006, its fastest rate in more than a decade.
The economy grew 10.4 per cent between October and December from a year earlier, slowing slightly from an upwardly revised 10.6 per cent pace in the third quarter.
Economists are on high alert for more potential tightening measures by the government, especially after inflation rose to 2.8 per cent in December from 1.9 per cent in November.
Mr Wen also spoke of the need to roll out more policies this year to support rural areas, where incomes have lagged far behind those seen in many cities, according to the statement.
Other priorities for the government included the need to maintain stable grain prices and to appropriately manage land policies, Mr Wen said