Working hours reform under way in China

Home>>China

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, December 11, 2003

Working hours reform under way in China

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

It was 8:10 in the morning. But Wang, a civil servant in Lanzhou, was still doing exercises in a park. "I am a sport enthusiast, but I had no time to do exercise in the morning in the past," said Wang.

Last week he bought a monthly ticket to the park. He now walks to his office every morning after doing exercises.

As of December 1, a new working-hour timetable was launched in governmental departments and institutions in the western province of Gansu.

Civil servants do not have to rush to their offices at 8 am from Monday to Friday. Instead, they have half an hour to have a relaxed breakfast or avoid traffic jams. The afternoon hours are still from 2:30 to 6 pm after a lunch break from 12 noon.

Similar new timetables have been adopted in the northern Hebei Province, southwestern Chongqing Municipality and some eastern cities including Nanjing and Hangzhou.

The new schemes, which have changed the 8 am to 6 pm working hours system to that of 9 am to 5 pm, are believed to enhance working efficiency and help change bureaucratic working styles. Working staff have only one hour for lunch.

"The officials will not have much time to waste on lavish eating and drinking during lunchtime," said working hours reform advocate Chen Linfu, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

But experts warn that the reform on working hours should not be duplicated throughout the country.

Deyang, a medium-sized inland city in southwestern Sichuan Province last summer introduced a new timetable, which started at 9 am and ended at 5 pm, with a one-hour break at noon. Before that, the civil servants went to work at 8 am and went home at 6 pm, and took a break from 12 to 2 pm.

But the scheme lasted only during the summer, because local people have been used to going home for lunch.

There are also doubts about who benefit from the reform. So far, most of the reforms include only civil servants.

Tong Zhimin, a labor expert and professor at Renmin University of China, agreed that there will be a question of equality, if the reform does not include other sectors. "All workers must be treated the same according to the Labor Law," said Tong.

Questions?Comments? Click here

US TV dump charges not just a biz spat: Analysis ( 4 Messages)

China not to tolerate splitting Taiwan from motherland: Premier ( 3 Messages)

Trade war? A buying spree for cheap Chinese goods ( 3 Messages)

Moon probe to blast off in 3 years: Chief scientists ( 2 Messages)

Bush strategy: Spend now, pay later? ( 35 Messages)