The bulk of the leadership conferences at Beidaihe have ended without consensus on key personnel changes at the 15th Party Congress in the autumn.
Sources said the main bone of contention was who should be promoted to the elite Politburo Standing Committee.
The sources said in spite of his apparently rising prestige, President Jiang Zemin was unable to impose his choices.
They said Mr Jiang and his ally Prime Minister Li Peng were pitted against National People's Congress (NPC) chief Qiao Shi and General Liu Huaqing.
The other three members of the Politburo Standing Committee, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan and Hu Jintao, largely sat on the fence on personnel issues.
Several party elders, including former NPC chairman Wan Li and former president Yang Shangkun, were asked to propose a compromise.
It is understood since most of the elders recommended caution and a balance among disparate power blocs, the jockeying for position would last until the September congress.
