Beijing - China's leadership began a meeting Monday that aims to prevent an overheating of the country's booming economy and put the brakes on inflation. The leaders gathered in Beijing at an annual meeting to set economic policy for the year ahead with particular attention expected to be paid to cooling investment, loans and China's rising trade surplus.
Although the government set a goal of 8-per-cent economic growth this year, China's economy was expected to expand 11.5 per cent. Inflation was to have been reined in at 3 per cent, but it has hit 4.5 per cent.
China's leaders fear a backlash from the public, many of whom have been complaining of rising prices, particularly for food.
The annual economic meeting usually last two to three days.
