President Jiang Zemin has demanded that his colleagues and aides come up with 'new ideas' during the annual series of leadership meetings due to begin in the Beidaihe seaside resort early next week.
Party sources in Beijing said yesterday that while Mr Jiang and top cadres including Premier Zhu Rongji had arrived in the resort late last week, formal meetings would not begin until after senior regional and military cadres had arrived by this weekend.
The sources quoted Mr Jiang as saying 'new ideas and fresh approaches' were needed for the discussion of five major issues on the agenda: accession to the World Trade Organisation; development of the western provinces; restructuring of state-owned enterprises; party construction and rejuvenation; and the Taiwan Strait crisis.
Core meetings are expected to last for a week to 10 days. Afterwards, individual Politburo members will return to Beijing and more informal meetings involving smaller groups will go on until the end of the month.
A source said Mr Jiang, who will dominate the discussions, had made last-minute demands of his advisers and think-tanks.
For example, deliberations on the WTO issue had until now concentrated on improving state-owned enterprises and other economic units so that they could be in a position to compete with multinationals. Politburo members were also anxious to minimise disruptions such as unemployment.
Last week, Mr Jiang put equal emphasis on preserving the mainland's 'economic sovereignty' while boosting interaction with the global market place. The President expressed fears that state firms vital to national security could be taken over by multinationals after WTO accession.
