Chinese leaders secretly plot course

China's leaders face big decisions on trade and Taiwan

By Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Beijing

China's top leadership is gathering at a seaside resort outside Beijing for a week of secretive closed door meetings which will set the agenda for China's political and economic path in the coming year.

This year's meeting is seen as being particularly significant as China's leaders prepare to face the challenge of entering the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and try to come up with a new policy for dealing with the thorny issue of Taiwan.

Chairman Mao began the secret summer meetings

The secretive summer meetings at the beach resort of Beidaihe, 200 km outside Beijing, are a tradition that go back to the 1950s, when Chairman Mao and his cohorts would gather to plan their next great stride towards a Socialist utopia.

Today, the meetings are somewhat less idealistic.

Fresh ideas sought

China's President, Jiang Zemin, is reported to be particularly concerned about the effect WTO entry will have on China's crumbling and debt-ridden state-owned industries.

He is reported to be seeking fresh ideas on how to bolster the most important strategic industries and how to dispose of the rest.

Taiwan is also thought to be high on the agenda - relations between Beijing and Taiwan have been frozen since the election of a new president on the island back in March.

Reports suggest President Jiang is calling for new policy ideas that can help to break that impasse.