China rolls out plan to transform gov't functions

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-3-10 9:19:29

The State Council plans to transform government functions at the ministerial level to reduce administrative intervention in the market and on social issues, State Councilor Ma Kai said in a report to the parliament's annual session on Sunday.

The plan by China's Cabinet aims to build an efficient and law-based government with a clear division of power, reasonable distribution of labor and well-defined responsibilities, Ma said while explaining the report on the State Council's institutional reform plan.

In a bid to offer quality public services and promote social justice, the State Council plan outlines major problems in the existing functions of the central government, and it sets the orientation, principles and priorities in transforming the ministerial functions.

"Departments of the State Council are now focusing too much on micro issues," Ma said, noting that overlapping in government functions often leads to buck-passing among government departments. "We should attend to our duties, and we must not meddle in what is not in our business."

The official reform plan came amid mounting public calls for boosting government transparency and efficiency and curbing corruption.

"As a person working in communities all my life, I desperately hope for streamlined administrative procedures and fewer government approvals," said Li Zhensheng, a deputy from east China's Fujian Province to the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

While delivering his last government work report to the top legislature on March 5, Premier Wen Jiabao acknowledged that some government departments are prone to corruption, saying the central government is "keenly aware that we still face many difficulties and problems" in economic and social development.

Wen vowed that the government will continue transforming government functions, as well as separate government administration from the management of enterprises, state assets, public institutions and social organizations, to build a "well-structured, clean, efficient and service-oriented government."

A BIGGER ROLE FOR THE MARKET

The reform package vows to cut the review and approval of investment projects to minimize the inconveniences and high costs involved when enterprises and individuals are trying to obtain the services they require and boost their independence to start a business or make an investment.

"In the past, what we produced and any new project must be approved by the central government, which greatly restrained our development," said Li Baomin, Party secretary of Jiangxi Copper Corp., China's largest copper producer.

"The government and enterprises must be separated. The government must leave the market to the market, and what it needs to do is to supervise," said Li, who is also an NPC deputy.

For those investment projects still subject to state approval, the plan introduces a deadline for completing the application process, as well as simplified procedures for each case, while emphasizing enhanced management over land use, energy consumption and emissions of pollutants to prevent duplication in investment and disorderly competition.

The plan also pledges to reduce review and approval items over business and operation activities, minimize the issuance of certificates and licenses according to the Administrative License Law, reduce administrative fees and charges, and gradually loosen conditions regarding the registration of industrial and commercial entities.

BETTER POSITIONS FOR NGOS

The plan acknowledges that the requirements for establishing social organizations are too high, and even some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) tend to operate in a bureaucratic way like government departments.

"The current management mechanism is no longer suitable for the standardized development of social organizations," Ma said.

The State Council plans to separate industrial associations and chambers of commerce from administrative departments, as well as introduce a competitive mechanism featuring multiple associations for a single industry, which will boost their independence and vitality.

Priority will be given to the establishment of social organizations in the fields of commerce and science and technology, and those related to public interests and charitable and rural-urban community services.

The establishment of a social organization regarding politics, legal issues and religion is subject to prior government examination and approval, as are overseas NGOs applying to open representative offices in China, according to the plan.

MORE SAY FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

If the proposed reforms are passed by the top legislature, local governments across the country will have a greater say in approving local investment projects.

However, in the meantime, local governments are ordered to follow suit to greatly reduce reviews and approvals of investment projects for an optimized investment environment.

The central government will no longer review or approve items related to business and operation activities that directly target communities, according to the plan.

"The proposed reforms for transforming government functions are moving in the right direction, but more work needs to be done," said national lawmaker Zhou Wenbin, who is also president of Nanchang University in east China's Jiangxi Province.

The State Council will reduce its special transfer payment for designated purposes to local regions through budgeted appropriation, and it will increase local government funding through general transfer payment to boost the fiscal strength of local governments, enabling them to better fulfill their duties.

However, in the event of an emergency, the State Council or another authorized government department can take emergency measures in line with laws and regulations to adjust the transfer payment amount.

FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION

A longstanding problem facing the State Council lies in the overlapping or multi-channel allocation of functions.

The defects of the structure are abused by some corrupt officials who seek private gain through their position of power, thus damaging the Party's relations with the people and undermining the government's authority.

To optimize the structure, the State Council needs to integrate identical or similar institutional functions into a sole government department, such as the registry of housing, forest, grassland and land, which currently falls to various government agencies, according to the plan.

The State Council plans to establish a unified real estate registry administration to protect the security of property transactions and effectively protect the legal rights of property owners, while setting up a unified social credit code system based on resident ID card numbers and codes for organizations and institutions to fight corruption.



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