HONG KONG — More than 25 years ago, China's paramount ruler Deng Xiaoping criticized excessive concentration of power within the Communist Party as the cause of grave problems, including the precipitation of the Cultural Revolution.

On Aug. 18, 1980, in an address to an enlarged meeting of the Politburo, he spoke about the need to reform the system of party and state leadership.

"It is true that the errors we made in the past were partly attributable to the way of thinking and style of work of some leaders," he said. "But they were even more attributable to the problems in our organizational and working systems."