Wen Jiabao, China's premier, has delivered a scathing assessment of his government's inability to meet long-stated goals to cut pollution and energy use, saying this must be corrected to sustain growth. The speech, delivered in late April but re-leased in full only yesterday, sets the scene for a battle between Beijing and provincial and city authorities over implementing the central government's energy and pollution standards.

Beijing is often forced to make high-profile arrests to assert its power over recalcitrant provinces and cities that habitually ignore the central government, even on economic policy.