Beijing Youth Daily
January 17, 2008

"Government launches temporary price intervention measures" reads today's top headline in the Beijing Youth Daily and many other daily newspapers nationwide.

According the explanation from the National Development and Reform Commission, the government will exercise control over the price of daily staples like grain, oil, meat, milk, eggs, and gas. The newspaper quotes the regulations as saying that twelve industry giants in several categories are now required to apply to the government if they plan to raise the price of any of their products.

Netizens on Tianya complained that this policy is "too late and useless"; Shanghai Scrap suggests that it will lead to further price increases as retailers test the government's resolve.

The front page photo shows yet another project for Beijing 2008: the Olympic torch relay. The route in Beijing will visit 56 famous landmarks and will follow a map that depicts the Chinese character 和 "harmony," as shorthand for "Journey of Harmony".

At the bottom right is another interesting headline: the Ministry of Education has announced that the number of people taking the 2008 National Graduate Entrance Examination has fallen to 1.2 million. The drop of 82,000 compared with last year's number is the first major decline nationwide since the exam became popular.