China's Wen spends New Year among grain farmers

BEIJING, Jan 3 (Reuters) Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao carried on his tradition of spending holidays among the people with a New Year visit to farmers to chat about grain prices and supplies, state media said today.

The visit to wheat and rice farmers in the eastern province of Jiangsu signalled China's concern about high grain prices, which are starting to feed inflation and have forced leaders to reassure the public about grain supplies.

''I hope farmers can benefit more when grain prices are on the rise in some areas. The prices are recovering from a previous low level,'' Xinhua news agency quoted Wen as telling a wheat farmer in the northern Jiangsu village of Qingxin.

Wen said last month that China would maintain ''appropriate'' prices to shield farmers' incomes, but also keep prices stable to protect consumers.

''Wen reiterated that the grain price increase should at first benefit farmers and the government should provide accurate market information,'' Xinhua said.

The trip is the latest effort to cultivate Wen's image as a ''man of the people''. Since becoming premier in 2003, the 64-year-old has spent Lunar New Year holidays eating dumplings with coal miners and in an AIDS-stricken village.

On his latest trip, Wen also visited the Tianwan nuclear power station in Jiangsu, where he stressed the importance of developing nuclear energy.

China plans to more than quadruple nuclear capacity by 2020 as it races to meet booming energy demand, seeing nuclear power as a partial remedy for both smoggy cities and the country's growing addiction to foreign oil.

REUTERS SP RK0915