Society

China's economic planning agency unveiled regulations to prevent price collusion and monopolistic pricing practices, giving the government more tools to rein in inflation pressures.

The rules, which were announced Tuesday and take effect Feb. 1, come after Beijing said that ensuring price stability will be a priority, and that it was bringing competition and pricing practices closer to international standards following its adoption of a basic antimonopoly law in 2008.

"In some industries and areas, acts against competition law are increasing daily, and methods to restrict competition are being constantly updated. Various forms of price collusion and the abuse of monopoly position are seriously harming the legal rights and interests of consumers," the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement.

The Anti-Monopoly Law implemented in 2008 contains general provisions against many of the measures covered in the new regulations, including price-fixing agreements between competitors and abusive pricing by companies with large market share. But Chinese laws are often taken as general guides, with further regulations sometimes needed to detail enforcement procedures.

In its statement Tuesday, the NDRC said the new regulations, by clarifying the rules, would help law-enforcement officials and also help companies to abide by the law. The NDRC said the new regulations "go an extra step in defining the boundary between legal and illegal, clarifying the criteria to abide by for major actors engaging in price competition."

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang Wednesday reiterated Beijing's pledge to support Spain in a meeting with the country's prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, as the two countries began signing $7.3 billion in deals.

Mr. Li, widely expected to become China's next premier within the next two years, told Mr. Zapatero that China wanted a united, strong and stable Europe, with Spain an important player in multilateral international relations.

"China is a long-term and responsible investor in the Spanish and European financial markets, and it has confidence and great interest in the Spanish market," Mr. Li said on the second day of a nine-day tour of the European Union in a show of support for China's largest export market.

The contracts cover 16 sectors, including energy, banking, telecommunications, transport and agriculture, but by far the most valuable one was the sealing of a previously announced $7.1 billion acquisition of certain Brazilian assets of Spanish oil firm Repsol YPF SA by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec.

U.S. President Barack Obama will press Chinese President Hu Jintao on Beijing's policies on currency and human rights when the two meet at the White House in two weeks, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

Mr. Gibbs, appearing hours after confirming he will step down as White House press secretary next month, said the U.S. continues to believe that China must take steps to allow its currency, the yuan, to continue to appreciate.

"China plays an enormously important role in our global economy, and China has to take steps to rebalance its currency," Mr. Gibbs said.

The comment cames a day after Mr. Obama joined a high-level meeting between U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in which the U.S. officials stressed the need for the two economic powers to reduce their trade imbalances.

Separately, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Yaoping said in Beijing on Wednesday that yuan appreciation won't resolve the U.S.'s trade imbalance with China, as the exchange rate has little effect on the major cause of China's trade surplus: the import of materials used in goods that are then exported.

The first clear pictures of what appears to be a Chinese stealth fighter prototype have been published online, highlighting China's military buildup just days before U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates heads to Beijing to try to repair defense ties.

The photographs, published on several unofficial Chinese and foreign defense-related websites, appear to show a J-20 prototype making a high-speed taxi test—usually one of the last steps before an aircraft makes its first flight—according to experts on aviation and China's military.

The exact origin of the photographs is unclear, although they appear to have been taken by Chinese enthusiasts from the grounds of or around the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute in western China, where the J-20 is in development. A few experts have suggested that the pictured aircraft is a mock-up, rather than a functioning prototype of a stealth fighter—so-called because it is designed to evade detection by radar and infrared sensors.

But many more experts say they believe the pictures and the aircraft are authentic, giving the strongest indication yet that Beijing is making faster-than-expected progress in developing a rival to the U.S. F-22—the world's only fully operational stealth fighter.

China's defense ministry and air force couldn't be reached to comment on the latest photos. Even without official confirmation, however, the photographs are likely to bolster concerns among U.S. officials and politicians about China's military modernization, which also includes the imminent deployment of its first aircraft carrier and "carrier-killer" antiship ballistic missiles.