(LI SHIGONG)

Jiao Sanniu, a 23-year-old graduate from China's prestigious Tsinghua University, was selected as vice director of the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Wuwei, northwest China's Gansu Province, in December 2011. Despite his youth, Jiao is not alone. A young man named Zhou Senfeng was appointed mayor of Yicheng of central China's Hubei Province at the age of 29 in 2009, and a 25-year-old woman named Mu Yang was appointed head of a township also in Hubei in 2011.

As to the appropriateness of appointing or promoting young people to official posts normally reserved for the more experienced, the public's sentiment was initially doubtful but has gradually warmed to the idea of young, fresh-minded individuals holding mid- to high-level leadership positions.

Hong Xianghua (China Youth Daily): Like a young plant, the healthy growth of young cadres requires sunshine, rain and fertile soil. Therefore, it's necessary to improve the conditions and environment for young cadres to grow. We should believe that young cadres' working abilities and knowledge levels will improve as they gain firsthand insight into economic and social work.

Traditionally, officials are appointed and promoted according to how long they have served in a certain position. It goes against the principle of promoting officials according to their performance and achievements. If young people work hard and perform particularly well, it's necessary to select and promote them, instead of sticking to the traditional procedure of official appointment.

The public is typically suspicious of young cadres, for their inexperience and the possible fraud in the selection process. Some people take the trouble to pry into these cadres' personal, private background, a direct intrusion into their private lives. Thus, I think, when appointing young officials, it's necessary for the authorities to make use of media to openly talk about these new officials' personal experience and working performance. The public's doubts will be greatly removed if they have access to these officials' basic information. Whenever there are doubtful voices, relevant departments need to make timely responses to dispel doubts and rumors.

Daxiaoduoduo (www.xinhuanet.com): Today, young officials are given promotions and appointments more than ever before. We need to look at this situation from both sides.

On one hand, if he or she is too young, they obviously lack work experience and might appear incapable when major incidents occur. On the other hand, young people can provide fresh, untainted insight into certain issues.

Some people suspect these unexpected promotions are a result of unequal selection, and there might be corruption behind it. Although their doubts may be groundless, these questions should be taken into consideration by disciplinary watchdogs.

Tolerance should be shown to young officials' promotion. Nowadays, many young people, with solid educational backgrounds and excellent working capability, are likely to be promoted. Once given the opportunity, they are quite likely to make great achievements. Experienced officials should be willing to offer them help, care and guidance. Ultimately, we don't want to see excellent young people be envied and their talent buried in the sand.