Pioneering Chinese City Offers a Peek at Political Ferment

Within the party, the plan said, there should be more than one candidate for each office, nominated by the city party committee and voted on by the select standing committee, in contested elections. Traditionally, officials have been named by senior officials and acclaimed by party committees.

Xu Jingan, who played a key role in Deng's economic transformation and previously headed the Shenzhen reform bureau, expressed doubt that the plan set forth by Liu and his party committee would result in concrete changes. For such changes to occur in China, even locally, he said, they would have to be pushed from the top, the way Deng imposed the economic changes. In addition, he said, the final goal has not been decided on, meaning each reform would meet resistance from people who have something to lose.

"Thirty years ago, the objective of the reforms was clearly defined by Deng Xiaoping," Xu added. "Economic development was the first priority. So we could experiment. For example, some of the land reforms were against the Chinese constitution. And also, many people opposed the stock market system and the changes in ownership rules and social security."

It was all very well for Wang to encourage Shenzhen to become a model of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Xu said, but nobody really knows what that means. A clear definition would be politically sensitive because it would involve the country's future direction and the fate of the party's monopoly on power, he added.

"These are the top ideological problems in China," he said. "Nobody can give a clear answer. Can Shenzhen answer these questions? No."

Zhao Dagong, a political commentator who is frequently at odds with the authorities, also expressed doubt that the plan would go into effect anytime soon. On the one hand, he said, party officials are unwilling to submit to voters' judgments. On the other, he added, party corruption is so widespread that officials cannot afford to allow public or judicial scrutiny of their actions.

"It will have no real consequence," Zhao said of the plan.

The degree to which senior party leaders in Beijing have blessed Shenzhen's reform proposals has been much discussed here. Some pointed out that Liu, the city party secretary, worked at the Youth League central committee in Beijing when President Hu Jintao, the current party leader, was the league's general secretary. Others have said that Wang, the provincial party secretary, would not stick his neck out on such reforms unless he had backing at the top.

Despite the party's decision to publish its deliberations, moreover, reform remains a delicate issue here. Officials from the city reform bureau angered senior party leaders last month when they published their own suggestions for change. Liu declined a request to discuss his proposals in an interview. And some local party leaders have voiced strong opposition to the plan, residents said.

"Do you think anyone in the party really wants to reform?" a local retired official said. "Of course not. They are making a lot of money. They don't want to change."