The Beijing News:
The five years since the 18th CPC National Congress has witnessed an unceasing momentum of exercising full and strict governance over the Party and officials. It seems that this momentum has led to inaction and a mass exodus from government to business. What are your thoughts on this? What effective measures can be taken to solve the problems?
Qi Yu:
You raised two questions. I will answer the one regarding the exodus from government to business first. Statistics show that the number of public servants has been stable in recent years, with an annual average resignation rate of 0.1 percent or a little more. There are a total of over seven million public servants in China, and only about 10,000 of them have resigned each year. So the mass exodus from government to business has not taken place at all.
It is normal that a small number of public servants resign, which is a law of personnel turnover rates universal to all countries. Despite their resignations, many talented people have joined the group of public servants through examinations and transfers each year, giving rise to a virtuous mechanism of resignation and recruitment which is in accordance with the overall system of public servants.
We have to admit that there is inaction, but only on the part of very few officials. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the cause and building of the Party has assumed a new look, and the nation has remained mobilized for brand new endeavors. The phenomena of inaction of officials has persisted from the past until the present, and will continue. At present, in rare cases, there are government officials half-hearted in doing their jobs due to lacking an understanding of the requirements for exercising full and strict governance over the Party and also the initiative to correct their behaviors and conduct in accordance with the action to transform lax and weak governance over the Party. Also, some officials are incompetent to fulfill their duties to meet new visions and the requirements for development.
Although inaction is a problem on the part of very few officials, the CPC Central Committee has attached great importance to it and instructed us to solve it. In accordance with its instructions, the Party committees at all levels and organizational departments have taken or are taking the following measures:
First, educating the officials with low ideological awareness and increasing their motivation to fulfill their duties. Second, helping the officials with low competence update their knowledge and improve their abilities through training and practice. Third, intensifying efforts to punish incompetence or indolence and exercise supervision, evaluation and accountability, and removing those incompetent officials from office so that no one dare perpetuate inaction and dereliction of duty. Most importantly, we must stick to the correct criteria of assessing officials, promoting responsible officials with ethical conduct and moral integrity, punishing and even removing those who fail to perform their duties from their positions. The Party's disciplinary inspection commissions at all levels have made great efforts in this regard.
What's more, we will strengthen positive incentives, helping officials improve their political ideology and caring about them in their work and life. We will look at their mistakes in a constructive way, differentiating: honest mistakes from knowing violations; faults in innovations from defiance of laws and disciplines; and errors made when pursuing public interests from making private profits. We will encourage officials to take risks and break new ground.
Yang Xiaodu:
I would like to add something. I agree with Comrade Qi Yu. What I am going to say may be more relevant to the questions raised by the journalist with the Beijing News. He asked whether the fight against corruption would lead to inaction. In my opinion, whether an official performs his duties or not hinges on his sense of responsibility. Officials in all positions are the servants of the people and should have public service consciousness. Some officials don't work hard enough as a result of incompetence. Corrupt officials often take irresponsible action and pursue interests for themselves rather than for the people. Few of the officials that we have investigated and prosecuted made dedicated efforts to serve the people. So I think anti-corruption can increase government officials' sense of responsibility, deterring them from improper desires, misconduct and playing their prize at the cost of the people's interests.
In other words, anti-corruption motivates high-caliber officials to perform their duties better and officials with poor performance to improve their work. The CPC's intra-party liability regulation published last year has specified the responsibilities and accountabilities of officials. We will clear those who seek high ranks but do not want to serve the people away from their positions or transform them so that they dedicate themselves to serving the people. Thank you.