> [Financial Times] > > China ushers in era of new leadership and political > reform > > By James Kynge > > Published: March 4 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: March 4 > 2003 4:00 > > The annual session of China's legislature that opens > tomorrow will be distinctive. It will usher in an > almost entirely new line-up of key government > personnel, it will elevate the theme of government > reform, and it will pave the way for the > redistribution and sale of some state company assets. > > The three strands are interlinked and were agreed by > the 16th Communist party congress last November. They > are part of Beijing's central purpose - to create a > system of governance that allows China to build a > modern, high-technology economy that can quadruple in > size to more than $4,000bn (€3,700bn, £2,530bn) by > 2020. > > The main personnel changes were set last November but > never announced. Hu Jintao, vice-president and > Communist party boss, will take over from Jiang Zemin > as president. But Mr Jiang will retain considerable > influence over issues such as foreign policy and > defence, mainly from behind the scenes. > > Wen Jiabao, a vice-premier, is expected to replace Zhu > Rongji, the hard- driving premier who negotiated China > into the World Trade Organisation and presided over an > unprecedented surge in deficit spending to boost > average GDP to an official 7.6 per cent over the last > five years. Mr Wen is likely to continue Mr Zhu's > work, but in a more consensus- oriented manner. > > Zeng Qinghong, Mr Jiang's chief protégé, is likely to > be appointed vice-president. Wu Bangguo, vice-premier, > is expected to take over as chairman of the National > People's Congress, the legislature, from Li Peng , an > arch-conservative leader who ordered the crackdown on > the Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989. > > With Mr Li gone, the new leadership finds itself freer > to tackle political and administrative reform, > official sources and Chinese academics say. There is > no suggestion that Beijing plans to embrace > multi-party democracy; its aim seems confined to > engineering systems that reduce rampant official > corruption, improve bureaucratic efficiency and > maintain social stability. > > To further these aims the power of the Communist party > will be curtailed, a task Mr Zeng, Mr Jiang and Mr Hu > are united in tackling, official sources say. In a key > experiment in political reform soon to be launched in > the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, the party will be > forbidden from interfering in the daily business of > government. Its role will be limited to that of > long-term policymaking, Yu Youjun, mayor of Shenzhen, > has said. > > In similar vein, the National People's Congress will > preside over the slimming of the central government > from 29 ministries to 21, and oversee efforts to > separate ministries from the state enterprises they > own. > > The symbiotic relationship between enterprises and > their owner/regulators has been blamed for both high > levels of official corruption and unfair competition > in certain industries. In an effort to rein in these > excesses, the Congress is expected to approve the > establishment of a new body, the State Asset > Management Commission. > > Over time the commission and its local government > offshoots will assume ownership from ministries and > other government organs of an estimated Rmb10,931bn > ($1,322bn, €1,226bn, £840bn) of assets in 190,000 > state-owned enterprises. > > The transfer process, which may take at least a year, > is to incorporate a groundbreaking element: central > and local authorities will decide which level of > government owns which enterprise. This will enable > local authorities to sell stakes in the corporations > they own without seeking permission from Beijing. > > Such a relaxation may accelerate a wave of sell-offs > already under way around China. "We are setting up a > state-owned asset management company into which we > transfer [the state-owned enterprises]," said Liang > Shaotang, mayor of Foshan, a booming city near Hong > Kong. "We are already transfering state assets to > investors from at home and abroad using auction, > transfer and tendering procedures." > > Several other cities are doing likewise. Shenzhen is > selling some of its largest and most profitable state > enterprises to investors, as is the central city of > Xian. Everywhere the rationale seems the same. The > performance of local officials these days is judged > not by size of their business empire but by the amount > of tax and employment they can create. > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more > http://taxes.yahoo.com/
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