China has Long Way to Go in Reforming Government InstitutionsChina has made great advancement in reforming its government institutions, but the task is far from complete, a senior Chinese official said Friday.The reform of government institutions is a gradual process in economic and social development, said Xu Rongkai, deputy secretary- general of the State Council, at the opening ceremony of an international conference on public policy and management. Since 1992, China has adopted a series of measures to reform government institutions above the county level, including the separation of government functions from enterprise management, downsizing of staff and improving efficiency, he said. The biggest reform started from early 1998, when the number of ministry-level departments under the State Council was cut from 40 to 29. Organs under the ministries were cut by a quarter, with a 50 percent cut in staff, a move that indicates the completion of restructuring of the State Council itself. The reform process has extended to local governments of all levels this year, he said. However, a lot of issues remain to be tackled, including how to supervise the government effectively, how to prevent government employees from abusing their power, and how to completely separate government functions from enterprise management, he said. The successful reform of government institutions also need a large number of civil servants and qualified public organ management personnel to meet the demand of the market economy, he said. Therefore, China needs to actively carry out public management education, he noted. |
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