THE Chinese leadership has warned regional leaders not to take advantage of patriarch Deng Xiaoping's call for fast-paced development by over-riding central Government edicts.
The State Council also revealed yesterday that the number of development zones nationwide would be limited to between 400 and 500, down from around 3,000 late last year.
Meanwhile, in a sign that factional strife has intensified in the run-up to the third plenum of the party Central Committee, which opens tomorrow, the political fortune of Executive Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji is tipped to fall in view of the many enemies hehas made among powerful local ''warlords''.
In a tough commentary yesterday, the People's Daily warned regional cadres that ''macro-level adjustments and control'' by the state would be ''strengthened and improved'' in the course of constructing the socialist market economy.
The official organ hinted that Mr Deng's recent dictum - ''only [speedy] development passes the rigorous [test of] reason'' - was no excuse for localities to pursue inflationary growth or goals not sanctioned by Beijing.
''It is an extremely big mistake to think that building up a socialist market economy means that macro-level adjustments and control will no longer be needed or that they will be curtailed,'' the paper said.
