Wen singles out top challenges

Mr Wen told delegates at the Communist Party's 18th five-yearly national congress that corruption should also be a top priority for the next generation of leaders, describing the battle for clean government "a matter of life to the party and the country."

He singled out the search to enhance democracy and the practice of the rule of law as a third key issue.

"China faces quite a lot of problems, especially the arduous task in reform and development.

"But I think the three aspects mentioned above are of great significance," he said.

Mr Wen advised the incoming government to focus on pushing up the income of both urban and rural resident.

Mr Wen added that the new leadership would need to draw up plans to stabilise the economy and bring in reforms to address uneven income distribution and to compensate people properly for collectively owned rural land expropriated by state agencies.

Hundreds of delegates to the week-long congress, which will appoint a new set of leaders to take the reins for the next 10 years, were boosted today by figues suggesting that the economy has rebounded in recent weeks.

Official figures showed that factory output was up to 9.6 per cent year on year, up from last month's 9.2 per cent.

And inflation fell last month, giving the government more room to use economic stimulus measures without pushing prices up beyond affordable levels.