HONG KONG (AP) - Rampant inflation, official corruption and government mismanagement

threaten reforms and economic growth in China, a top government economist said in

a pro-Beijing newspaper on May 15.

Prof. Wujin Tan, a prominent economist under China's state council, blamed government

failure to control credit and reform China's old planned economy for rising corruption

and an inflation rate of 36 percent, the Wei Po reported.

"The whole national reform will inevitably be threatened" if these problems

are not urgently resolved, he said.