This article examines how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) maintains political
control over municipal elites in post-Deng China. First, it analyses the career paths
of mayors for all prefecture-level municipalities between 1990 and 2000. It then
shows how the dual processes of economic decentralization and the
decentralization of the personnel management system has not led to a decline of
the CCP's capacity to enforce key organizational norms. An ordered probit model
of cadre promotion suggests that the economic performance of cities has little
substantive impact on promotion or removal from office. However, strict
enforcement of cadre retirement regulations has the effect of shortening the tenure
of mayors, which facilitates the promotion of a greater share of secondary officials
than was possible before the reforms of the personnel system, but weakens the
link between good governance and political rewards.
