Transcript of secret Chinese meeting leaked to Web

Top Chinese economists who met last month to advise the government argued over how to proceed with economic reforms that have created a gulf between rich and poor, and one suggested breaking up the ruling Communist Party, according to a leaked transcript posted on Web sites.

Participants in the March 4 meeting at a Beijing hotel talked openly about corruption and public complaints that economic changes have left many unable to afford medical care or schooling.

The transcript was posted on Web sites this week in an unusual breach of the government's reflexive secrecy. None of the postings explained how the transcript was obtained.

Gao Shangquan (高尚全), a two-decade veteran of top advisory posts, argued for more capitalist-style reforms but acknowledged public frustration at their effects so far.

"Some people believe ... that the marketization of housing has hurt the interests of the weakest group, left ordinary people unable to afford housing, unable to see a doctor, unable to send their children to school," Gao said, according to the transcript.

The transcript included comments by 17 of China's leading economic reform theorists, including academics, think tank researchers and other top government advisers. It said the meeting was organized by an office of China's Cabinet.

One participant at the March 4 meeting recommended that China go beyond economic reform and break up the ruling party.

"I unequivocally state the wish that the Communist Party should become two parties," said He Weifang (賀衛方), a Peking University professor.

He called for the introduction of press freedom, and for the party to give up control of China's military.

The appearance of such comments comes at a time of debate within the Communist Party over how to proceed with such reforms as legal guarantees for private property and the sell-off of government banks and other reforms.

China's 27-year-old economic boom, with growth forecast to top 9 percent again this year, has let hundreds of millions lift themselves out of poverty.

But millions more, especially in the countryside, have seen their living standards change little, while a tiny elite races ahead and corruption flourishes. Seizures of farmland for redevelopment by local officials have prompted protests throughout the country.

The growing wealth gap has prompted calls by leftist critics to slow down or even reverse the privatization of the economy.

Communist leaders have pledged support for continued capitalist-style change. But President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and others also have expressed concern about rising tensions over economic inequality and possible threats to the party's grip on power.