Op-Ed Contributors

Building up govt capacity at the grassroots

By Chan Choi Hi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-30 07:52

In his government work report at the third session of the 11th National People's Congress in March, Premier Wen Jiabao said:

"Over the past year, new progress was made in government self-reform and self-development. To deal with difficulties of all kinds, we paid particular attention to promoting democracy, listening to the opinions of the masses and protecting their interests. Our civil servants are devoted, diligent and responsible. They made positive contributions to sustain economic growth, ensure people's well-being and maintain stability. Nevertheless, the transformation of government functions is incomplete; there is too much government interference in the micro-economy and public administration, and services are relatively weak."

The construction of the new socialist village is part of national policy. The rural grassroots system of governance and leadership is the indispensable part of this policy. If governance systems and structures are not in place and not in line with national policy, they will become a stumbling block in the construction of the new socialist village.

As such, government capacity in the rural areas should be given greater importance and built up further.

Grassroots officials are the vanguard of the government in implementing national policy. The broad masses of farmers (890 million people), their cultural strength, educational standards and governance capacity determine the success or failure of national policy.

The training of grassroots government officials should be strengthened in line with the reality in China's rural areas and a people-oriented, rural system of government is required.

Since the development of China's rural areas is unique, there is no system elsewhere to look to.

Large rural populations and the complexity of the problem mean that a system of government with Chinese characteristics must be formed as soon as possible.

Local administrations should pursue good governance as much as it is crucial for rural areas to develop further.

The standard of local government cadres and public administration has a direct impact on the quality of local administration. Basic training of local officials is only a start.

We should adopt a "learning and knowledge-based" approach to train and retrain local officials at the grassroots.

In order for better governance, especially at the county level, we must agree that if all counties in China are in good operation and providing high quality services to the people, they will in turn support the local government.

The Party's top leaders have their own training program by experts and scholars. It is important for leaders of local government to continue learning so that they can do their jobs and serve the people better.

The learning process should be in line with officials' positions and a comprehensive learning program should be drawn up for local officials. The training should not only include theory but also actual governing experience. The courses must be geared toward the building of good governance at the local level. The validity and usefulness of these courses should be continually assessed and updated.

With economic reform and social development, disputes in rural and township communities may sometimes arise. The nature and characteristics of these contradictions are non-ideological but related more to issues concerning the distribution of benefits, or between the people and local government departments. Sometimes, problems stem from the lack of training and knowledge of the local officials who do not know how to handle mass disputes.

It is also necessary to enhance supervision on local governments and officials. In addition, the central government should strengthen grassroots cadres' (including administrative and judicial services) training to enhance their governing capacity. A system should also be in place to evaluate the overall performance of local officials.

The author is chairman of the Hong Kong Public Governance Association and Council Member of the Central and Western District.

(China Daily 04/30/2010 page8)