BEIJING - Premier Wen Jiabao pledged on Saturday that the government will firmly curb excessive housing price growth and provide enough affordable houses for needy residents this year.

A new measure adopted by the government is to give priority to developing public rental housing, Wen said in his government work report at the opening of the annual full session of the country's top legislature on Saturday.

The development of public rental housing is expected to benefit many low- and middle-income families, who are not qualified to apply for low-rent public houses nor rich enough to buy commercial apartments.