Businessweek Archives  China: What's Going Wrong? (Int'l
Edition)  International -- Asian Cover Story  China: What's
Going Wrong? (int'l edition)  Plans for reform screech to a halt
as it enters a year of economic peril--the most dangerous in a
decade  We will prevail. That was the message Chinese Premier
Zhu Rongji sent to the world a year ago, when the National
People's Congress unveiled a $1.2 trillion, three-year plan to
keep the Asian crisis at bay. The public-works spending would
keep China's millions employed and the economy expanding by 8%
annually. Meanwhile, Zhu would tackle the thorny tasks of
shutting down profitless state factories, curbing corruption,
streamlining a bloated bureaucracy, cleaning up the banking
system, and privatizing housing. With China still growing, Zhu
thought the country could absorb the shock of reform.  He was
wrong. Instead of embarking on a year of triumph, China is
entering a year of peril--its worst in a decade. When Zhu set
his plan in motion, he underestimated just h