Officials guilty of corruption, incompetence and indifference, says premier

Premier Zhu Rongji attacked the bureaucracy for mismanagement and corruption yesterday and promised to prepare China for entry into the World Trade Organisation.

After assuming office promising to halve the ever-expanding bureaucracy and balance the budget, a frustrated Mr Zhu delivered his government work report halfway through his term, admitting the deficit would grow.

He lashed out at officialdom rife with formalism, falsification and exaggeration, uncontrollable corruption, sloppy management and lax execution of laws and decrees.

'Certain government functionaries are indifferent to the well-being of the people,' he said, winning loud applause from nearly 3,000 National People's Congress delegates at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for a lengthy section devoted to cleaning up government.

'Fighting corruption is still a tough task,' he said. Although he threatened tough punishment for those caught, Mr Zhu offered no fresh ideas on improving the political system other than more regulations and campaigns.

He sounded pugnacious, too, on keeping his promise to return the country's bankrupt state-owned enterprises to health by the end of the year. Total profits had reached a record high last year, exports were up and the textile sector, a test for the reforms, had returned to profitability.

There were no surprises in the economic policies outlined although he urged more enterprises to raise capital by issuing shares. For the third year running, he promised to privatise housing and turn it into a major industry.