Xinhua reported that Wen had five points on political reform. The first addressed the need for the party to operate within the framework of the constitution and law, thereby separating the party from governance and preventing the 'overconcentration of absolute power'. This was not a new point, Wen stressed; it was first raised by Deng Xiaoping three decades ago.

The second was to advance social justice so that the fruit of economic development could be more widely shared. Thirdly, Wen argued for an independent and truly just justice system. Again, this was a point first raised 30 years ago in the early days of mainland reform, Wen said.

Fourth, the country needed to protect people's democratic rights, from local elections to political oversight of higher levels of government. The fifth point covered the need to fight corruption by stopping official interference in business, making officials reveal their personal assets and putting limits on government spending of taxpayers' money.

Compare that to President Hu Jintao's speech in July to mark the 90th anniversary of the party. Hu's five points on political reform, as summarised by retired Central Party School deputy president Li Junru, were:

First, to instil in party leadership the rule of law and the idea that the people are the masters of the state. Second, to pursue political reform in an orderly way. Third, to strengthen the party's overall leadership. Fourth, to expand all democratic channels and fifth, to strengthen the rule of law.

Li's summary was published last week on People.com.cn, the website of the official People's Daily. To some, the last four points seem no more than elaborations of the first; the question as to how to reconcile the party's monopoly of power with such rival ideas as democracy and rule of law remained unanswered.

In essence both Wen and Hu talked about the importance of an orderly progress of political reform, indicating that neither man was in favour of an immediate general election for the president of the nation or anything close to the Western parliamentary system.

However, the key points and the approach to the issue reveal a difference in their basic attitudes toward power - a matter of fundamental importance for any serious political scientist.

Given his straightforward approach, it seems that Wen at least agrees with having more restrictions on power.

Hu's speech, however, was conspicuously ambiguous, a presentation designed, after all, for party members and not for an international audience, as was the case with Wen's presentation.

But Hu's ambiguity comes with a price - it prevented the speech from gaining much favourable coverage and feedback from the domestic media, especially those less controlled and more competitive media products on the news stands.

Wen, however, won plaudits from a wide range of outlets. In the weekly Economic Observer, one commentary welcomed Wen's raising of the 30-year theme of reform at a time when, 'over the last few years, Chinese reforms have run into difficulties in each step it was taking'.

The 21st Century Business Herald, another leading business newspaper, ran an editorial on Wen's speech, echoing his belief that the source of much social instability was a lack of effective supervision of the public service and poor distribution of the economy's benefits.

Political reform is an even more imperative task for today's China than in Deng's time, the commentator said. China must find an institutional solution to its overconcentration of absolute power.