When describing his joint venture with Japanese partner Nissan
at the national legislature’s session earlier this week, automaking
mogul Miao Wei didn’t expect President Hu Jintao to jump in and
ask: “Do you need to get government approval if you plan a
technical innovation?”
“The president is keen on providing a favorable environment for
domestic enterprises to grow,” Miao, general manager of Dongfeng
Automobile Co., Ltd., and an NPC deputy from Hubei Province, told
Xinhua Thursday.
To the dismay of government officials present at the
conversation, Miao didn’t hesitate to voice his complaint.
“Of course,” he said. “Sometimes we have to wait for half a year
to get approval from the central government if the renovation plan
involves imports of foreign equipment.”
Hu turned to the officials, saying, “We do feel it’s an urgent
need our government transform its work style from intervening in
enterprises’ business operations to providing them with timely and
efficient service.”
“Whether or when a technical upgrade is needed is up to the
companies, not the government,” said Miao, his voice rising
slightly.
As a clear signature of the new generation of China’s central
leadership that took office a year ago, “serve the enterprises” has
evolved from the Chinese Communist Party’s six-decade-old slogan of
“serve the people.”
In his government work report delivered last Friday to the
National People’s Congress (NPC), the nation’s legislature, Premier
Wen Jiabao dedicated an unprecedented four pages to the transition
of government functions.
“The key functions of the government should be macroeconomic
control, market supervision, management of public affairs and
service to the general public,” Wen said later in a panel
discussion with the lawmakers.
China has been making painful efforts to downsize its government
institutions for decades. After cutting the payroll of central
government departments by half under the leadership of former
premier Zhu Rongji, township government offices across the country
were also reduced to 39,000, or 37 percent fewer than in 1998.
“Four township governments were dismissed every day in China,”
said Ying Songnian, an NPC deputy and top law professor with the
State Administration College.
“The transformation from issuing administrative orders to
providing public service is no easier than downsizing,” said Ying,
noting that with vested interests, government departments are
reluctant to give up their power in making decisions for
enterprises “even if they feel they are short-handed.”
Before embracing a largely freewheeling socialist market economy
in the 1990s, China had long adopted a strictly planned economic
system copied from the former Soviet Union, under which the
government oversaw everything from business operations of
enterprises to cradle-to-grave welfare of the people.
“Many government officials today are still unable to abandon
their outdated mindset fostered under the planned economy,” Ying
said.
Jin Zhiguo, lawmaker and chairman of the board of Shandong-based
Tsingtao Brewery, said that complicated government procedures in
passport application just foiled his latest attempt to go to
Thailand in February for business negotiations.
“Under the existing rules, it takes at least three months for me
to obtain government approval for a business trip to Taiwan, “ he
said. “Who can wait for such a long time for a fleeting business
opportunity?”
As a matter of fact, the overall situation for the business
community has been improving over the years, said Ding Haizhong, an
NPC deputy and Party secretary of Ma’anshan City, in eastern
China’s Anhui Province, noting that local government agencies have
been urged to provide help for enterprises.
“Even if they (the enterprises) have loopholes in their
management and operation, what the government should do is to help
them straighten things out, but not deliberately create troubles or
even attempt to profit from this,” he said.
Government bodies and civil servants will be feeling the heat
not only from the leadership, but from the people as well. If they
don’t, they may find themselves constantly in court because of a
law on administrative license is to take effect on July 1.
The new law, covering the government’s right to grant
franchises, permits or certificates to businesses and individuals,
drastically simplifies the procedures for approvals and abolishes
unnecessary restrictions, Professor Ying said. When an approval
requires the go-ahead from multiple government departments, they
should jointly set up a special office to provide the applicants
with one-stop service, he added.
“What we are busy doing is reviewing our current practice in
case we’ll be brought to court and have no chance to win,” said Li
Chengyu, an NPC deputy and governor of central China’s Henan
Province.
Along with improvements in China’s legal system, the political
will of the central leadership to build a government for the people
has gradually been turned into action, an encouraging development
that analysts say is in keeping with the pursuit of the Party and
government over the past six decades.
(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2004)