SCOTT McDONALD
BEIJING

CHINA'S communist leaders have no plans to allow democracy in the near future because they must focus on economic development before political reform, Premier Wen Jiabao wrote in a newspaper article yesterday.

Democracy will emerge once a mature socialist system develops but that may not happen for up to 100 years, Wen wrote in an article in the People's Daily, the main Communist Party newspaper.

For now, China must focus on "sustained rapid growth of productive forces . . . to finally secure fairness and social justice that lies within the essence of socialism," Wen wrote.

Wen's comments, which appeared as the government prepares for its annual parliament session, come amid pressure by activists for an end to the ruling party's monopoly on power, although his article made no reference to those demands.

The premier, China's number three in command, said the country was "still far from advancing out of the primary stage of socialism. We must adhere to the party's basic guidelines of the primary stage of socialism for 100 years."

The communist government has carried out limited political reforms in recent years, allowing nonpartisan elections for the lowest-level village leadership posts. However the ruling party controls policy making, and harasses and jails activists who call for multi-party democracy.

Wen said China would develop its own democratic policies and that a socialist system was not contradictory to those policies.

"A highly developed democracy and a complete legal system are inherent requirements of the socialist system and important symbols of a mature socialist system," Wen said.

China's ceremonial parliament, the National People's Congress, opens next Monday and is expected to discuss property and tax law changes.

China's economy has boomed in recent years, growing at double-digit rates, but the expansion has been uneven. Communist leaders acknowledge that a growing wealth gap was threatening political stability and their control of the country.

Wen said economic reforms and changes to the legal system so far are still "not perfect enough."

He said that while economic development was the central task, that had to be done while building a harmonious society - the government's catchphrase to describe efforts to help the hundreds of millions who have not benefited yet from China's rapid economic growth.-AP