Report on Issues of Administrative System Reform in China

Author: Yan Tingrui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Today, administrative system reform is becoming an increasingly hot topic. This is because, both domestically and internationally, much like the democratization wave of the late 20th century, administrative system reform is sweeping the globe. From Asia to the Americas, from Europe to Oceania, almost every country in the world is undergoing administrative system reform. Despite varying reasons and backgrounds, there are some common characteristics. First, the breadth and depth of the reform are unprecedented, with every aspect of the administrative system facing unprecedented challenges. Second, if previous reforms were merely responses to institutional additions and expansion, then today, governments have begun to re-examine their own functions, showing a large-scale reduction in the face of the market. Almost all reforming countries have been influenced by the wave of marketization, with varying degrees of privatization during the reform process.
Since last year, when China's central government made the fifth decision on administrative system reform since the reform and opening-up, a new wave of administrative system reform has begun across the country. Looking only at the situation in China, we can see that administrative system reform is an ongoing process. After each round of reforms, new reforms follow, deepening along with the development of China's economy. As a country transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy, China's journey in administrative system reform is very similar to that of Western countries, both starting in the late 20th century. However, China's reform has shown its own unique characteristics and logic.
At the beginning of the reform, the focus of China's reform was centered around government institutions and personnel. However, each reform could not escape the cycle of reduction followed by expansion. It can be said that the logic at the beginning of the reform was organizational logic; the goal was to improve administrative efficiency through reducing personnel and institutions. Under the circumstances where institutional and personnel reductions have been slow, the focus of China's reform has shifted to government functions. In fact, government function issues are a breakthrough point in administrative system reform. Only by truly reducing government functions and shifting the focus from managing people, resources, and affairs to macroeconomic regulation, market supervision, social management, and providing public services can the government improve its administrative efficiency.
However, we also see that after more than a decade, reforms centered on government functions have not achieved the desired goals, meaning there are still underlying issues that have not been resolved—political logic. It can be anticipated that China's reform can only truly succeed by considering the government's organization, functions, and political issues related to the administrative system.
Based on the above theoretical considerations, we wrote this book. We found that although there are many articles discussing administrative system reform in the current context, there are not many monographs specifically addressing the issue. This book represents a meaningful attempt in this regard. It specifically includes the following content: General Theory of Administrative System Reform, Vision and Outlook of Administrative System Reform, and Implementation Strategy of Administrative System Reform. The Introduction is composed of one part, which mainly reviews the connotation of administrative system reform and the current research status in China on this issue. On this basis, the research framework of this book is proposed. Standing on China's reality and looking toward the future, this book explores all aspects of administrative system reform from the basic theory of the administrative system, vision and outlook, and implementation strategy.