THE city of Shaoyang in Hunan province should devote its resources to developing community-run enterprises, according to its mayor, Kong Lingchi.
'In the past we dared not proceed with development plans for the non-state sector for fear of deviation from the main ideology,' the mayor said.
'But every city should have a unique path of development.
'This year we'll put more emphasis on collectively run enterprises and the private sector, rather than state enterprises.' Mr Kong's blueprint for Shouyang was apparently different from the central Government's plan.
Delivering the government work report yesterday, premier Li Peng pledged greater strides to reform state-owned enterprises.
The loss-making state sector has been a headache for the Chinese economy for years.