China's Wrangling Over Price Controls

Concerned about the rising prices of consumer goods in China, the country's top economic planning body has reportedly asked the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever to suspend price increases. The move reveals two things: that inflation is spreading and the state is becoming more active in intervening to prevent an upward spiral — to the point of leaning heavily on foreign companies. Meanwhile, the domestic battle continues as a number of local governments, banks and state-owned enterprises resist Beijing's measures.