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UPDATED: March 25, 2008 NO.13 MAR.27, 2008
Changing From Within
The government should enhance its role in public service and social management, so that it can provide the people with convenient, quick, high-quality and efficient service
 
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At this year's full session of the National People's Congress, lawmakers approved a government reshuffle plan. The move was launched in accordance with an earlier resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which puts forward principles, targets and measures for further reform of China's administrative system. Bo Guili, professor at the National School of Administration, says in an article in Economic Daily that the reform of the administrative system is an important part of the reform of political institutions.

Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1978, China has made steady progress in the reform of the administrative system, establishing a system that basically suits the country's current economic and social development. With the further implementation of the Scientific Outlook on Development and the overall progress in economic, political, cultural and social sectors, the current administrative system still, to some extent, lags behind the new situation of the modernization process. To further the reform of the system is an inevitable requirement for the improvement of a socialist market economy system and the development of socialist democratic politics and also an important part of China's overall reform.

The clarification of its long-term objective is vital to the ongoing administrative reform. First of all, by pointing out the direction, it will help to keep the reform constant and stable, so as to effectively prevent and correct all kinds of deviation in the process; second, the objective will help to connect various stages of the reform, so that it can gradually move forward, avoiding unnecessary repetition and thus being more effective; and third, this objective will help to integrate various aspects of the reform and also coordinate different measures to drive the process forward.

In order to realize the long-term objective of the administrative reform, it is important to thoroughly implement the guiding principles put forward by the 17th CPC National Congress. By following the overall action scheme and combining the long-term objective with current crucial steps, the whole reform will be a coordinated, stable and gradual process with breakthroughs achieved in several key fields in a studied way.

The current key steps to accelerate the administrative reform are as follows:

First, to change the way the government functions. This is the core of the process. Since the transformation of government functions was first proposed in 1988, great achievements have been made in this regard, which helps to promote the development of the socialist market economy and also social progress. At the same time, it is clear that the transformation is not yet finished: The government is still interfering in something outside its jurisdiction while it sometimes fails to take responsibility for the things it is accountable for. There is still a gap between economic development and social progress and also a big disparity in terms of the development level between urban and rural areas as well as between different regions and different groups. Therefore, in order to realize the long-term objective of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and completing the administrative reform, the transformation of government functions must be seen as pivotal. The government should enhance its role in public administration and public services, so that it can provide the people with convenient, quick, high-quality and efficient services. To realize the transformation, efforts should also be intensified to speed up the separation of the functions of the government from those of enterprises, state assets management authorities, public institutions and market-based intermediaries. It is necessary to standardize administrative practices, slash the number of matters subject to administrative examination and approval and standardize such procedures, and reduce government intervention in microeconomic operations, so that the government can focus its economic management functions on serving market players and create a sound environment for development.

Second, to optimize the government's organizational structure. This is a guarantee for the enhancement of governance efficiency. Although certain progress has been made after several institutional restructurings since the 1980s, problems, such as overlapping departments, intertwined responsibilities and inexplicit distribution of powers, remain there. They have increased the government's operation costs, affected governance efficiency and tarnished the government's image. Therefore, to optimize the government's organizational structure for a higher governance efficiency is another focus of China's administrative reform. It calls for efforts in accordance with the principle of simplification, uniformity and efficiency, as well as stepped up efforts to streamline government organs and explore ways to establish "super departments" with integrated functions. Experiences in other parts of the world show that the "super department" system will help the government to work in a more smooth and coordinated way, thus improving governance efficiency. However, to establish the new system will involve many challenges, such as the integration and optimization of functions and organizational structure of the government, the revision and formulation of supporting statutes, personnel reshuffle and reform of current administrative practices. Therefore, while seizing opportunities and focusing on the urgent work at hand, the phase-in of the "super department" system should be supported by some transitional schemes in initial stages. There is also a need to improve the mechanism of coordination and collaboration between government organs, simplify administrative procedures and cut costs.

Third, to improve the accountability system and strengthen supervision. There must be equal emphasis on powers and responsibilities. This is the basic requirement of scientific and democratic governance and the rule of law. Recent years have seen frequent occurrence of major accidents at work. Safety problems concerning food, drug and environment are threatening the people. One reason for the problems is that the government is not tangibly committed to its responsibilities. This is true of local governments, who in some areas wield power, but never try to perform their responsibilities-so when problems arise, no department will take responsibility. Some government departments and their staff have a weak sense of responsibility, which creates a hotbed for corruption. Thus, strengthening the sense of responsibility, improving the accountability system and tightening up the checks of administrative power are all urgent needs in the administrative reform.

For this purpose, the limit of administrative power must be made clear, for both central and local governments as well as individual government departments and their subsidiary bodies. There must be explicit distribution of powers and responsibilities for every department and all personnel. The establishment of the principal officials accountability system should be accelerated, in accordance with the principle of matching powers with responsibilities and through legitimate, democratic, open and impartial procedures. The accountability system should also be integrated with administrative and audit supervision. This will lead to responsible government. Supervision over the administrative power can be further improved if it comes from people's congresses of various levels, national and local committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, judicial organs, as well as the public and media. The establishment of a supervisory system featuring explicit definitions of powers and responsibilities, rational structures and an orderly and effective operation will help to increase the transparency of the administrative operations. Only in this way is it possible to ensure that the power is used in people's interests.



 
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