Gov't function reform China's top priority

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Gov't function reform China's top priority

By Xinhua Writer Zhu Shaobin (Xinhua) 20:32, October 12, 2013

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As bizarre as it is painfully realistic, a kindergarten in Lishui in east China's Zhejiang Province was built in one year but took two more years to go through all the administrative procedures and obtain 133 approval stamps.

Local officials have admitted that some of the stamps were irrelevant and unnecessary after media exposure of the story last week that churned up plenty of public discontent.

What started out as idle chatter has been upgraded to a stronger yearning for speeding up transformation of government functions.

Transformation of administrative roles, is an old chestnut, but remains a huge challenge today, and it has become the mantra of Chinese leaders.

To fundamentally change government functions is a mission that the Chinese government must accomplish to improve administrative efficiency, inject vitality to the economy, and further China's progress in a new era.

A recent event might signal concrete efforts toward that goal.

The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) is an experiment in high level reform. High on the FTZ agenda is changing government function.

At home, experts' analyses of the Shanghai FTZ are pointing to the government's determination to pursue a model for efficient administration, supervision and law enforcement, as well as a fair and transparent market, which are evidenced by a number of trials being rolled out at the zone.

Wang Xiaoguang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said the emphasis on transforming government signified that there remains much room for reform.