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Outdated state sector labours on

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If there is one man standing between mainland reformers and a market economy, it is Wu Yonggao - the jolly manager of Lanzhou's tractor works.

Clad in a tidy Mao suit, Mr Wu cheerfully explained the wonder of state-sector economics.

'No one ever loses their job,' he said. 'It is our tradition.' The Lanzhou Tractor Factory, operating as a full-employment scheme since 1952, has weathered Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms and appears prepared to outlive the 15th National Communist Party Congress, too.

The factory claims record-high output and fantastic profits for the party, though its antique machine shop and stockpiles of unsold tractors speak for themselves.

'We have a long way to go,' Mr Wu said.

'We have the ability to provide work for everybody. If there are layoffs, there will be trouble. In a country with such a large population, this is fundamental,' he said.

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