BEIJING (AFP) - - Chinese President Hu Jintao has vowed "forceful measures" to curb rising food prices and address a booming real estate market that has seen property prices sky-rocket, state press said Tuesday.

"The central government attaches great importance to commodity prices and has made it an important task to stabilise them," Hu said in a New Year message delivered Monday during a visit to the northern port city of Tianjin.

"A series of forceful measures have been taken and will continue to be taken to ensure the normal life of the masses," Hu was quoted as saying by China Central Television.

The spike was propelled by an 18.2-percent rise in food prices. The price of pork, which forms the core of most Chinese diets, was up by a staggering 56 percent.

He also vowed to curb rising housing prices to help low-income families and to provide them with better health care benefits, two other top concerns of ordinary Chinese.

"The (Communist) Party and government are very much concerned about the housing problem of the low-income masses," Hu said.

"The central government has made arrangements to speed up the low-rent housing system, improve the affordable housing system and ease the housing difficulties of urban low-income families."

Hu made the comments as he visited a family at their small rental home in Tianjin and a retirement facility in the city.

The privatisation of housing in China over the last two decades has led to a booming real estate market that has left homes unaffordable, not only to low-income earners, but also to many ordinary working families.

Official figures show that property prices in 70 Chinese cities rose 9.5 percent year-on-year in October, up 0.6 percentage points from September, with prices in the eastern metropolis of Shanghai up 7.9 percent.

In a New Year's address also carried on state television throughout the day on Tuesday, Hu vowed to push forward his "harmonious society" programme that emphasises the need to address the rich-poor divide.

He further said that China would contribute to world peace and called for the "peaceful reunification" of Taiwan, which China views as a part of its territory.

"We will also adhere to the basic principle of peaceful reunification ... and work for the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, (and) strive for peace in the region," Hu said.

Unlike former president Jiang Zemin, Hu has refrained from issuing vows of force to retake Taiwan, using milder language when discussing the island.

But he did pledge to "resolutely safeguard national sovereignty," underscoring China's long-term position that it would use force to retake Taiwan should the island ever declare formal independence.

Taiwan and China have been ruled separately since their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

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