WHEN Zhu Rongji replaced Li Peng as prime minister, the wits of Beijing coined an adage to describe the changing of the guard: 'The fool is dead, long live the madman.' It summed up the popular perception of Mr Li as a stumbling, nervous man and poor speaker and of Mr Zhu as an abrasive intellectual bursting with ideas that will be hard to realise.
On Friday, the public and almost 3,000 delegates to the NPC saw Mr Zhu's first report after a year in office, while his predecessor looked on sternly behind him in his role as NPC chairman.
The People's Daily yesterday reminded that, while Mr Zhu had replaced Mr Li as head of the Government, he was below Mr Li in the Communist Party hierarchy.
A front-page photograph showed the seven members of the politburo's Standing Committee entering the NPC session, with President Jiang Zemin leading the way and Mr Li just one step ahead of the Premier.
The two men could not be more different in thinking and style. Mr Li is a cautious and uncharismatic bureaucrat who has patiently built up his power base in the party and Government through networking and consensus, while Mr Zhu, the first rightist to be Premier since 1949, speaks bluntly, has a quick temper and an impressive command of details.
A mainland banker said Mr Zhu, having chosen to have only one five-year term, was a man in a hurry.