Making government clean and accountable
- By Wen Jiabao
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 2, 2012
In order to win the support of the people and ensure that they remain satisfied, a government must be public-minded, pragmatic and corruption-free. Over the years, we have adhered to a number of important anti-corruption principles, including: strengthening government reforms, scientific and democratic decision making, administration by law, the supervised exercising of power, targeting responses to key issues, undertaking long-term and fundamental work as well as creating conditions which enable the public to oversee government work and activities.
1. New achievements in the fields of government reform and anti-corruption campaign.
(1) The construction of government system has been greatly enhanced. Deng Xiaoping once remarked that the system was indicative of fundamentality, comprehensiveness, stability and permanence. In order to align the process of reform and opening up to China's remarkable economic and social development, we have in recent years focused our efforts in a number of different aspects, including: promoting the reform of governmental management and system construction, facilitating the transformation of government functions, introducing innovative management methods and strengthening supervision and restrictions with regard to the exercising of power. For the first aspect, we worked to establish and then constantly improve a scientific and democratic decision-making system. We have been working to continuously improve the system of collective decision-making, investigation, expert consultation and openly soliciting public opinions concerning key issues in order to ensure a scientific, democratic and statutory decision-making process. For the second aspect, we have worked to enhance the reform of the administrative examination and approval system. Over the past decade, the State Council has both abolished and adjusted 2,183 administrative examination and approval procedures, accounting for 60.6 percent of all such procedures; local governments have both abolished and adjusted more than 50 percent of all such procedures. For the third aspect, we have carried out the government performance evaluation system, which resulted in the launching of a pilot system in eight provinces and six departments of the State Council by 2011. For the fourth aspect, we have worked to both establish and strictly enforce a system of administrative accountability, focusing on chief administrative officers and increasing punishments for negligence and unfitting conduct. These measures relating to reform and system construction have been effective in aiding the government's anti-corruption drive.
(2) Administration by law has become a central tenet. The development of socialist democracy is the unswerving goal of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and the rule of law is the basic requirement of socialist democracy. In 2004, the State Council issued the Outline for the Implementation of Promoting Law-based Administration in an All-round Way, announcing its goals and requirements regarding the construction of government under the rule of law. In 2010, the State Council issued Opinions on Strengthening the Building of a Government Ruled by Law. We emphasize that all authorities nationwide should respect and abide by the Constitution and the laws, thereby exercising power and performing their duties in strict accordance with statutory rights and procedures. Administrative legislation has been reinforced and regulated in a more transparent way. The system and mechanism of scientific, democratic and legal law-making has been established. Authorities have sought public opinion when drafting administrative rules and regulations, except on such matters which cannot be disclosed to the public according to law. The public has also been given the opportunity to participate in the framing of administrative legislation, in order that such legislation can better reflect the public opinion. The regular work of administrative law enforcement at all levels of government is directly related to the interests of the public, enterprises and social institutions. In recent years, we have been continuously deepening the reform of the administrative law enforcement system, perfecting enforcement procedures, regulating enforcement activities and promoting comprehensive enforcement. A system of public accountability comprising competence, processes and the results of administrative law enforcement has been established, effectively curbing back room deals and corruption. A system of responsibility and accountability for administrative law enforcement has been implemented. Those who illegally and improperly exercise power and damage public interests are liable to punishment under the law. The interest that has been damaged by improper enforcement is liable to compensation by law. Strengthening administration by law and fostering the building of a government ruled by law have become the prime motivators behind standardizing the exercising of power.
(3) The transparency of government affairs has been improved. Ensuring that government runs in an open and transparent way is an effective way to fight the dangers posed by corruption. Openness, the basic criterion of government affairs administration, should be an integral part of all government affairs, except those which are related to state secrets, commercial secrets and individual privacy. In 2007, the State Council formulated the Regulation on the Disclosure of Government Information, making the transparency of government affairs a legal obligation. Therefore, the transparency of administrative affairs in governments at all levels has been increasingly regulated and deepened. In recent years, we have demanded more transparency in financial budgets and final accounts of governments at all levels. The budgets and final accounts of all governments and the departments, government funds, and budgets related to state-owned capital management have been demanded open to the public. It's also worth mentioning that the detailed administrative expenses of all government departments, including expenses on out-bound trips, official receptions, official vehicles and meetings have been revealed to the public. Various budgetary executions and audit reports of final accounts have also been made public. In 2011, 92 central government departments issued their budgets; 90 central government departments issued their final accounts; 98 government agencies including ministries, local governments of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Shaanxi made public the three public consumptions (fees levied for public vehicles, public receptions and foreign travel); and the national audit institution published more than 8,000 reports related to budget execution and financial revenue and expenditure. Thank to such measures, the public is aware of the extent of government spending and they can therefore supervise government work and help to prevent corruption.
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