Jan 6, 1984

Streamlining to focus on county level

China plans to cut county-level government institutions by 30 percent and officials at this level by 20 percent in 1984 in a bid to raise work efficiency, said Vice-Premier Tian Jiyun.

So far, the nationwide drive to streamline China's government structure, which began in 1982, have been completed at national and provincial levels, with the number of relevant departments reduced, officials' average age lowered and more college-educated promoted to leading posts.

Meanwhile, township governments will be established in all rural areas, Tian added, noting that communes as collective economic organizations will play a more effective role in developing China's socialist rural economy.

More law newspapers

Twenty provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China now have their own legal newspapers with a total circulation of more than 24 million copies each year, according to the Ministry of Justice.

The first local legal newspapers were published in Xinjiang and Qinghai in 1980, in the Han, Uygur and Tibetan languages. Guizhou, Tibet, Jiangsu and other areas are now making arrangements to publish similar papers.

The papers have played an important role in spreading knowledge of the government's legal principles and policies, and in aiding popular legal education, according to a recent national conference of law newspaper editors, who also suggested making reports more interesting and vivid.

City universities play bigger role

City-run universities have increased dramatically in Shanghai in recent years and are turning out more than 20,000 college graduates to be assigned to the city's organizations annually.

Wenhui Newspaper reports that the number of local universities and colleges have increased from 6 in 1966 to 21 last year, as many as others run by the State Education Ministry. The 30,000-plus students enrolled by these universities also account for 43 percent of the city's total enrolment.

Last year, the Shanghai education administration allocated more than 3 million yuan to help local universities and colleges improve their facilities.

(China Daily January 6, 2009)