China's top economic planning agency has called for tight control on lending to sectors plagued by over-supply to help avert mass bankruptcies and job losses, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Ma Kai, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a year-end meeting that over-supply in sectors such as steel, coke and autos were threatening job opportunities.
"If we don't effectively address the problem immediately, a large number of companies will go bankrupt and many people (will) lose their jobs," Xinhua quoted Ma as saying on Saturday.
Loans to such sectors of the economy must be "tightly controlled" next year, Ma was cited as saying.
Ma echoed the priorities for 2006 that were mapped out by the government at the Central Economic Work Conference last week.
Beijing would maintain stable macro-economic policies next year to ensure steady and rapid economic growth, Ma said.