CONTROVERSY on personnel and economic issues has complicated preparations for the National People's Congress and aggravated factional strife within the Communist Party.
Chinese sources said although the broad outlines for the congress, which will be convened in late March, were set at the 14th Party Congress last October, there could be changes ''at the 11th hour''.
According to what the sources called a ''rough consensus'' at the 14th Congress, party chief Mr Jiang Zemin would be given the position of state president, succeeding Mr Yang Shangkun.
And premier Mr Li Peng would be given another term as head of the State Council.
In recent speeches, patriarch Mr Deng Xiaoping has sought to bolster the status of Mr Jiang, saying he was a ''trustworthy core'' of the collective leadership.
Many senior cadres, including the party elders, however, have expressed reservations about Mr Jiang holding too many positions.