Vice Premier Wu Bangguo and other leaders ordered the technology troops into action during a series of meetings in late 1997 and early 1998. The state and private sectors, however, are badly hampered by a lack of expertise and cash to hire expensive outside help. She said, China's banks, railways and airlines are tackling the problem, but overall China is hopelessly unprepared. A ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said industries are still being surveyed about Y2K bugs. With less than 500 days to go, it may be too late for much of the Chinese economy.
Effective fixes require that computer code be reviewed line by line.
Hardware varies widely, and most companies or government bodies have no backup equipment to use while their computers are being fixed. The bigger challenge, though, may be getting businesses to place priority on Y2K when formerly cosseted state industries are failing and China's exports are being walloped by the Asian economic crisis. For a lot of companies, the Y2K problem is still not in the picture. IBM's Chow said China may be able to lessen the damage by dealing with the most crucial systems first. Aviation remains a major area of uncertainty.