Formalism eased for grassroots authorities

The nation's protracted battle against formalism and inefficiency has turned a corner in some key areas, particularly for authorities at the grassroots who often are left with the lion's share of responsibilities.

There is a Chinese idiom about a small horse pulling a heavy cart, which vividly illustrates the mismatch between the limited resources of primary-level governments and the excessive tasks imposed by higher-level departments.

The Qiyiqiao community in the city of Jingmen, Hubei province, once had 44 plaques hanging on its walls.

"Each plaque represented a task, which required keeping records, submitting documents and undergoing assessments. We were simply swamped," said Yan Yunfeng, Party secretary of the community.

An investigation launched by Jingmen authorities found that the root cause lay in some higher-level government departments shifting their responsibilities onto grassroots units.

The city government subsequently rolled out a special campaign to remove plaque requirements to ease the burden.

Yan said responsibilities such as inspecting air pollution prevention and control have been transferred to professional social organizations, while guiding civilized traffic has been returned to traffic police departments.

"Once the walls were lined with red plaques, yet no one was around to help with our matters. Now there are fewer plaques, and getting things done is much easier," said Zhao, a 70-year-old female resident of the community.

Local authorities said Jingmen city has cleared some 24,000 such plaques.

Jingmen has also introduced a smart community system to supervise and approve tasks assigned by departments to villages and communities. For auxiliary tasks, applying departments must clearly specify on the platform what responsibilities they themselves will undertake, what grassroots units will assume and what support will be provided. Applications that fail to meet these requirements are rejected.

The platform has been rolled out across all counties and districts in Jingmen. To date, the number of tasks undertaken by villages and communities has dropped by 30 percent compared with previous levels.

Formalism also manifests in unnecessarily lengthy and repetitive reports and documents.

In Lingxi town, Cili county of Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, Chen Anqi, a staff member at the comprehensive social service center, logged into the Smart Cili platform and generated a report on urban-rural population changes in about two minutes.

Two years ago, the same task would have taken Chen most of the day, and would have involved contacting officials from all 19 villages in the town one by one to collect data. This data would have then needed to be manually compiled and verified.

Wang Huan, a county-level worker who previously served in villages, recalled riding an electric bike across Cili every Friday to submit forms to various departments. "By the end of the day, the battery was dead and I was completely exhausted," he said.

The Smart Cili platform contains real-time data, allowing grassroots workers to download the information they need. Guan Jintao, deputy director of the county's big data center, said the system saves village officials about six days of work each month.

Digitalization has become a common approach among local governments to facilitate information sharing, reduce redundant workloads and improve efficiency.

Formalism is also reflected in frequent and extensive inspections and assessments that fail to address real problems.

In Lai'an county of Chuzhou, Anhui province, December used to be a peak assessment period for Luo Chuanming, deputy director of the county's agriculture and rural affairs bureau. He and his colleagues would rush to prepare for a wide array of inspections, reviews and evaluations.

Now, Luo has more time to visit farmers and help them address practical issues, such as caring for their winter wheat.

The change stems from provincial authorities reducing assessment items, streamlining procedures and optimizing workflows. For example, three separate assessments — rural vitalization, food security, and the consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements -have been integrated into a single rural vitalization assessment.

Luo said that he has shifted from "compiling documents at his desk" to "going out to villages to provide services". While the time and energy he devotes to his work have not decreased, he said he is now better able to apply his professional expertise, giving him a greater sense of accomplishment.

In August last year, the central government issued a document on regulations aimed at reducing burdens at the grassroots level by addressing unnecessary formalities, outlining seven key areas, including streamlining documents and meetings, standardizing inspections, supervision and assessments, and clarifying the powers and responsibilities of grassroots authorities.

"Formalism and bureaucratism are chronic maladies that must be resolutely corrected with strong resolve," the document said.

While visiting Siyi village in Panjiawan town, Hubei province, in November last year, President Xi Jinping called for efforts to continuously reduce burdens on grassroots officials, to ensure that they can dedicate more time and energy to serving the people.

In August, the central government urged all regions and departments to comply with and implement the regulations.

Cui Jing, a professor at the School of Government of the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, emphasized the significant importance of rectifying formalism.

"First, it guides Party members and officials to stay true to their original aspiration," she said. "Second, it enhances the efficiency of grassroots governance and facilitates regional development. Third, it mobilizes the initiative and creativity of local officials, bridges the gap between the government and the public, and strengthens people's sense of fulfillment and satisfaction."

Cui said one reason for formalism is that higher-level authorities oversee performance evaluations and resource allocation for grassroots officials. When assessments rely too heavily on document-based metrics, local officials may prioritize "polishing reports" and "creating an illusion through paperwork", rather than addressing the real needs of the public.

Ran Aobo, a researcher at Tsinghua University's Institute for Urban Governance and Sustainable Development, said formalism stems from bureaucratism, in which higher-level officials fail to understand grassroots difficulties and set unrealistic goals, while lower-level officials seek to please their superiors.

To further combat formalism, he proposed closer collaboration in the public sector, the market and society, the use of artificial intelligence in paperwork, and regulations on the length of policy documents.

Liu Kun, He Chun and Qi Zichen contributed to this story.