Q: Administering state affairs according to law, and
honest and highly efficient administration are among the aims of
any government. In this regard, what has the Chinese Government
done and to what effect?
A: The administration of state affairs according to law, and in
an honest and efficient manner, is also the aim being pursued by
the Chinese Government. The Report on the Work of the Government
made by the State Council at the annual session the NPC frankly
admitted flaws in the work of the government and raised the need to
"speed up establishing a government ruled by law."
Deepening the reform of administrative procedures is the
sticking point in transforming the government's functions,
advancing management innovations and preventing corruption. On July
1, 2004, the first Law on Administrative License took effect. It
specifies the scopes of government power and administrative license
and only reserves a small number of administrative licenses that
really belong to the "public good." The law propels the
governmental shift from being an "all-round government" to a
limited government, and cancels or adjusts items of administrative
examination and approval that the government should not manage,
cannot manage or cannot manage well. By the end of 2004, all
departments under the State Council had cancelled or adjusted 1,806
items of administrative examination and approval, more than half of
the total. Local governments also cancelled or adjusted more than
50 percent of the total items of administrative examination and
approval, accelerating the transformation of government functions
and administering state affairs according to law.
Another symbol of a government ruled by law is transparency and
openness. Therefore, China requires all government agencies to open
their information to the public, except for state secrets, trade
secrets and personal privacy protected by law. The public should
have the right to refer to information and the government should
make it conveniently available to the public. In the meantime, all
government regulations, rules and other legal document as the bases
of administration should be made available in publications,
government websites or on bulletins for easy public access.
Furthermore, in strengthening the supervision of government
power, China gives full play to the roles of specific departments,
such as supervision and auditing, to strengthen supervision over
the performance of functions and fulfillment of responsibilities by
the government, promoting honesty of government functionaries and
securing the smooth implementation of government orders. At the
same time, the state further expands supervision by citizens,
society and media over the government and its departments. If only
people supervise the government, the government will not keep a
slack hand and government functionaries will not abuse their
power.
Another aspect in establishing a highly efficient government is
the reform and improvement of decision-making mechanisms. In recent
years, under the principle of making decisions scientifically,
according to law, and democratically, the government has
established and perfected a decision-making mechanism that connects
public participation, expert consultation and collective
decision-making, hearings, publications, assessment after
decision-making and accountability in office. Consequently, the
work of the government is more scientific, democratic and open,
promoting efficiency.