Wen regrets not preventing his children doing business in China, reports say

Despite the 11 failures China’s outgoing premier Wen Jiabao openly acknowledged in his last work report on Tuesday, sources say he omitted another important one: failing to stop his children doing business in China.

Wen confessed his regrets during an inner-party discussion group in January, local reports said.

“Failing to persuade my children not to do business [in China] is a significant mistake of mine,” Wen reportedly said. “It’s my biggest regret in life.”

Wen also admitted that other areas of his premiership were unsatisfactory, including dealing with petitioners and immigrant workers and curbing corruption inside China's medical system, the report said.

Wen is known for his humble roots in China. But his image was suffered a serious setback after a New York Times report last year  used corporate and regulatory records to show his family had accumulated some US$2.7 billion in wealth.

Both the English and Chinese websites of the New York Times were blocked by the Chinese government after the story was published, and remain unavailable inside China now.