CHINESE Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin has called for strict discipline among the more than 50-million-strong party to help uphold central policies in the face of the growing conflict of interests between central government and the regions. The party General Secretary indicated that the policy of ''democratic centralism'' repeatedly stressed by senior patriarch Deng Xiaoping must be maintained to ensure there would be no split in the party and over the implementation of policy. Mr Jiang said that some localities had failed to implement central orders. ''Some people still go their own way, in spite of repeated orders from above,'' he said in a lengthy speech given at a symposium to mark the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the party last week. The full speech was published by the official New China News Agency (NCNA) last night. Mr Jiang said defiance of ''democratic centralism'' had weakened the party and affected the implementation of central policies. He attributed the problem to the lack of a ''correct understanding'' of conflicting interests. Mr Jiang criticised some localities for neglecting national and long-term interests for the sake of the short-term interests of a small group of people. The party chief called on cadres to ''consciously abide'' by central decisions whenever there were conflicts between the centre and the regions. This would uphold the overall interest, unity, solidarity and the authority of the central party and the State Council, he said. Mr Jiang warned that any cadres who failed to do so would be punished severely. He said the strengthening of the party leadership had become increasingly important as the country intensified economic reforms and open policy. The party boss also emphasised the importance of maintaining the party line over political and ideological matters in the development of Chinese-style socialism. Conceding that the Chinese people were dissatisfied with corruption among cadres, Mr Jiang said any failure to address their grievances would jeopardise the grand task of reform and communist rule. He described as a ''total misunderstanding'' the idea that it was no longer practical to strengthen the ideological purity of party members because the country had embarked on reform and the open door policy. Political indoctrination among party cadres would help avoid the ''commercialisation of power'' in the communist polity, Mr Jiang said. He argued that the demand for ideologically-pure party cadres had become even more important in the ''new era'' and under the ''new circumstances''. In another NCNA report, a retired Politburo member, Song Ping, spoke against the pursuit of economic development at the expense of party construction work. The further strengthening of the development of the party, he said, would help promote the leadership of the party. in economic reform and other matters.