Don't expect a leap forward, but at least they have not turned the clock back. This assessment of the 15th Communist Party Congress pretty much sums up what Beijing insiders think of the all-important political report - and allied initiatives - that President Jiang Zemin will table at the late September conclave.
In a sense, cadres who have read portions of its final draft say, Mr Jiang is reinventing the wheel.
The president has reinstated quite a few of the teachings of Deng Xiaoping and such of his lieutenants as former party chiefs Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang.
Take for example, Mr Hu's point that 'Marxism cannot solve all the problems of today'. Or Mr Zhao's theory that China is at a preliminary stage of socialism, meaning that the country can allow the 'co-existence' and 'co-prosperity' of the public and private sectors.
Without citing either Mr Hu or Mr Zhao, Mr Jiang wrote in his draft report: 'It is meaningless to talk about Marxism if it is divorced from national conditions and developments of the times.' The party General Secretary called the preliminary-stage theory a 'scientific conclusion'.
While insisting the 'state-owned sector' must retain overall dominance over the economy - and that certain strategic industries must be in government hands - Mr Jiang can be flexible about the ownership and management structures of enterprises.
