Other political parties will operate "under the leadership of the Communist Party of China for a long time to come," the government said in a white paper titled "Building of Political Democracy in China," quoting from the country's constitution.

"We are against the anarchic call for `democracy for all,"' the document said.

The government's report describes economic stability and national integrity as elements of the form of democracy best suited for China, in contrast with the "political chaos" of pitting parties against each other.

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The 74-page document, published in English and Chinese, didn't include any specific measures.

The report echoes an October 15 call by President Hu Jintao for "countries to choose development paths that suit their own conditions and improve their development models in light of their respective national realities."

Hu made the comment in an opening speech to the Group of 20 nations gathering of finance ministers and central bankers near Beijing.

"The rule of law and the role of civil society are important factors in development, as important, if not more important, than the traditional inputs of labor and capital," World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz told reporters in a briefing in Beijing Tuesday.

"China's at a point where these issues loom large on the agenda."

The Communist Party has ruled the mainland since 1949, when it won a civil war against the country's Nationalists, or Kuomintang, who fled to Taiwan. The party recognizes nine other parties, including the China Democratic League, the China Association for Promoting Democracy and the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party.

Democratic reforms include expanding "political participation of citizens in an orderly way," tackling corruption and improving the "mechanism of restraint and supervision over the use of power," according to the report.

It didn't elaborate on how these goals would be accomplished.

The number of mass protests in China increased to more than 74,000 last year from 10,000 in 1994, Public Security Minister Zhou Yongkang said last month.

Many disputes have been sparked by the seizure of peasants' land for urban development by corrupt local officials.

China is "confronted with increasingly acute potential social unrest caused by disparity in development and distribution, inequality, injustice, and corruption despite rapid economic progress," Xinhua News Agency said on October 6, in an unusually frank assessment of the problems facing the country. BLOOMBERG