TALES are sometimes told for entertainment, but sometimes they act as catalysts for change. In China, the world's third-largest economy, stories told have led to national policy changes.

During his first one-on-one interview with Xinhua news agency on December 27, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told several personal stories that helped his Cabinet formulate policies to tackle the global financial crisis and other issues.

Pig farmer's wish

"Whenever I am reminded of migrant workers, I have feelings that are difficult to put into words," said Wen, recalling a recent letter from Xiong Deming, a 48-year-old farmer he met in late 2003.

Xiong Deming was returning from a day tending her cabbage patch, her hands caked with soil, when she learned Wen was visiting her village, one stop on Wen's inspection tour of Chongqing Municipality in southwest China.

Xiong rushed to her neighbor's courtyard and approached the premier for help to recover money owed to her migrant worker husband by a construction company. Six hours after Wen left, local officials gave Xiong the long overdue wages - 2,300 yuan (US$337) in cash.

In a recent letter to Wen, Xiong said she is now raising 278 pigs. Wen said: "Xiong said her wish was that all Chinese people could have quality pork to eat."

Rather than addressing specific problems like wage recovery, Wen said he is more focused on studying deep-rooted problems to improve the livelihood of around 200 million migrant workers throughout China.

He said China would steadily reform its decades-long houkou or household registration system, in a bid to ensure migrant workers have the same rights as city dwellers. Houkou links most benefits to legal residence.

Wen also described the pilot program of rural pension insurance. "Farmers aged over 60 get 55 yuan a month. It's not a big sum, but it begins a new era."

Netizen's complaint

The Internet is sometimes a tool for Chinese Netizens to vent their complaints, which Premier Wen said he was quite aware of.

"I know Netizens are concerned about housing prices," Wen responded to a Netizen Deep White's question of how home prices could increase by 1,000 yuan per square meter in a month. "When surfing the Internet every day, I read Netizens' comments on the issue, including some harsh criticisms," Wen said.

As the country's real estate market recovers, housing prices in some cities are soaring, which causes serious concern to the central government, Wen admitted.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, housing prices in 70 major Chinese cities rose 5.7 percent year-on-year in November, continuing an escalation that has triggered new concerns over property speculation in the country.

It will take both government policies and market regulation to promote healthy development of the real estate market, Wen said. The government will expand construction of affordable houses and speed up renovation of "shanty towns" by providing financial support and favorable policies, he said.

The government will also crack down on property developers, who seized land without developing it, hoarded houses and jacked-up prices, the premier promised.

Internet of Things

The Internet is nothing new to Premier Wen, but the Internet of Things was.

"This concept first came to mind when I talked with a group of young researchers who returned to China after overseas studies," Wen said, referring to people he met during his inspection tour of Jiangsu Province in November.

"I learned the Internet of Things is a network that can be applied to infrastructure and services. The program has a rosy future," Wen said.

According to Internet of Things, when objects ranging from books to aircraft are equipped with minuscule identifying devices, they can be tracked and managed through computer networks.

Internet of Things was one example Premier Wen cited while outlining the country's initiatives to foster new growth areas, especially in emerging strategic industries.

Wen said financial crises in history have always brought about technological revolution. "The key to conquering the global economic crisis lies in people's wisdom and the power of science and technology," he said.

Wen did not elaborate on "emerging strategic industries" but said that the country should continue to give full play to its advantages in the manufacturing sector, while striving to develop important areas related to environment and people's living.

Efforts should be made to develop the Internet, a green and low-carbon economy, environmental protection technology and biomedicine, he said.

Textile mill

Walking through rows of humming machinery, Premier Wen could not assess the real performance of a textile factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, last July. He decided to have a face-to-face talk with the factory owner in his office.

"Premier Wen, do you want to hear the truth or just the usual polite words?" the factory head asked. "I want the truth," Wen said - and was told the mill was falling victim to the global financial crisis for lack of export orders.

In an inspection tour last November to Dongguan, a manufacturing base in Guangdong Province, Premier Wen was shocked to find that one of China's biggest container manufacturers did not have even one order.

Tours to these factories sent one common message: the global financial crisis had started to take its toll on China's export-oriented businesses. "After investigations, the government changed the pre-set economic policies in the second half of last year: we lowered the reserve ratio and interest rate, and raised the export rebate rate," he said.

Since June 2008, Wen has made 36 inspection tours to more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities (out of the 31 on the Chinese mainland). "I went there to mainly do three things: send the message of confidence, learn about the real situation, and search for policy solutions," Wen said.

Despite the bumpy road ahead, "China has a great deal of hope in its future," Wen said when asked to give his New Year's message to the Chinese people.

(The authors are Xinhua writers.)