This changed when then-Party leader Jiang Zemin and his prime minister, Zhu Rongji, centralized authority in order to stave off economic crisis at a time of growing risk to China’s banks. In the process, the labor force of China’s state enterprises declined by 50 million, China lost 25 million manufacturing jobs, and central-government employment was slashed.
这一状况在时任总书记江泽民和国务院总理朱镕基任上发生了改变，江泽民和朱镕基通过权力集中避免了中国银行风险上升带来的经济危机。在此过程中，中国国有企业职工人数减少了5 000万，全国减少了2 500万个制造业岗位，中央政府工作人员数量也大幅下降。这些措施挽救了中国经济，但代价是社会压力的全面增加，也导致朱镕基在离任后非常不受欢迎。