Journalists of Xinhua News Agency visited a local neighborhood committee in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, and found it was entrusted to issue more than 100 certificates required by several administrative bodies, including authorities from public security, education, judiciary, civil affairs and real estate departments. Some administrative departments even require residents to get certificates from the neighborhood committee to prove "your mother is your mother" or "how much money your family has". This not only greatly inconveniences residents; it also places a tremendous workload on local neighborhood committees.

Strictly speaking, a neighborhood committee, as a local autonomous institution, has no rights of law enforcement or investigation. In other words, a certificate issued by a neighborhood committee is not legally valid.

Moreover, the numerous certificates that the neighborhood committee issues expose the severity of the problem of excessive red tape, which goes against the principle of streamlining administration promoted by the central government. Many administrative departments try to shift their responsibilities by requiring unnecessary certificates from other organizations, while ignoring the difficulties they bring to the residents. Some unnecessary administrative permits should be canceled, and the related administrative organizations should bear their responsibilities rather than shifting them to neighborhood committees.