Election results from provincial-level Party congresses confirm that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is eliminating a certain number of deputy Party chief posts in a continuing effort to streamline governance.

 

An average of three such posts have been cut in provinces of Liaoning, Henan, Anhui and Shanxi, and Xinjiang and Tibet autonomous regions.

 

There will now be only two deputy Party head posts in these provinces, one of which is that of provincial governor. The other deputy Party head will be responsible for either Party affairs or discipline supervision.

 

Officials serving as Party secretaries will no longer occupy positions overseeing fields such as economy, health or education because these posts were found to overlap with vice governor duties.

 

"It's hard for me to decide who to listen to when there are two leaders," said Wu Xuguang, a construction official in Xiuning County of Anhui Province, in an interview with a Beijing-based newspaper.

 

The thinning of Party secretaries will streamline decision-making procedures and enhance governance efficiency, said Wu Zhongmin, a sociology director with the Party School of CPC Central Committee.

 

Prior to the downsizing, secretaries could occupy several posts in the local Party standing committee, the provincial policy-making body. In the new set-up, secretary posts will be cut and more non-secretary officials brought in to the standing committee.

 

"This will curb the dominance of secretaries in the committee -- it is another step taken by the Party to realize group governance and democracy," said Liu Suhua, a scholar with the Party School.

 

Even before this provincial-level reshuffle, reelections at lower levels had already eliminated thousands of Party posts.

 

In central China's Hunan Province alone, over 5,600 deputy Party chief posts at the township level were slashed, an average of 2.6 fewer such posts per town, local government sources said.

 

Nationwide, an average of 200 county-level and 40 city-level Party posts have been eliminated, according to a report in the latest issue of Southern Weekly.

 

With China determined to deepen political reforms in the first phase of the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), the latest provincial Party congresses have witnessed a wave of personnel changes nationwide.

 

The People's Daily has hailed the ongoing Party leadership downsizing as a "significant reform," and warned that as a result of the reform, numerous Party cadres "will be transferred from important posts or demoted."

 

The reform will make it much harder for cadres who intend to abuse their government positions for personal gain, and help curb corruption, said Wang Guixiu, a scholar with the Party School.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2006)