Chinese premier Wen Jiabao fired a parting shot at conservative officials in the ruling Communist party, warning that China could face another Cultural Revolution unless it undertook urgent political reforms.

“Without successful political structural reform, it is impossible for us to fully institute economic structural reform and the gains we have made in this area may be lost,” Mr Wen said at his farewell briefing at the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber stamp parliament, which meets for just 10 days every year.

“New problems that have cropped up in Chinese society will not be fundamentally resolved and such a historical tragedy as the Cultural Revolution may happen again,” he added, in remarks broadcast live on television. “The mistake of the Cultural Revolution and impact of feudalism are yet to be fully eliminated.”