The government will take measures to prevent asset bubbles and avoid huge fluctuations in the stock market, Premier Wen Jiabao told reporters on Saturday.

Preventing asset bubbles is like preventing inflation and it is the government's responsibility to ensure a fair, healthy and transparent stock market, Wen said in Uzbekistan where he was attending the Sixth Meeting of Prime Ministers of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

He added that all measures will be market-oriented options rather than administrative actions.

The stability of the stock market relies on two basic factors: The quality of listed companies and a transparent market which protect not only the interests of enterprises, but also those of consumers, Wen said.

With more people having entered the stock market, abnormal fluctuations affect both the national economy and the interests of shareholders, so the government will closely watch developments, he said.

Wen also said that lifting gasoline prices by 10 percent on November 1 was necessary to keep China's oil product prices partly in sync with global oil prices.

(China Daily November 5, 2007)