Domestic media are filled with coverage of President Hu Jintao's latest call for Communist Party of China and government officials to dedicate themselves to the public welfare, to be thrifty and alert to challenges.

Like everyone worried about the way public affairs are managed in this country, we share his and society's grim concern about problems in our public service.

Strong economic growth over the decades has brewed a propensity to overestimate our strength. Dazzled by the ballooning size of our economy and ignoring essential concerns, some officials mistake our growth potential for real might.

Fatter State coffers and overblown optimism have not only added fuel to officials' obsession with grandeur but also prepared the ideological and material grounds for wastefulness.

Local governments having difficulty making ends meet build luxurious office buildings and buy expensive cars; officials living on State poverty-relief funds trot the globe like millionaires, wining and dining as if there were an endless supply of wealth.

We have heard plenty about this. We know these supposed public servants' proclaimed commitment to the public good is anything but sincere.

Everybody seems to have seen the excesses. And everybody appears aware of the need for change. The problem is how to bring about change.

It would be praiseworthy if all public servants heeded the leadership's passionate appeals and truly served the public, not just themselves. But there is no guarantee they will.

The only sensible approach is to make sure they fulfil their public trust. Making rules for officials' self-discipline is not enough. We already have piles of documents.

It is more reliable to resort to public oversight. We do not lack rhetoric on this. We need practical moves to facilitate public involvement.

One way to rein in waste of public money is to enhance public scrutiny of government budgets. Experts put forward a sensible proposal for the National People's Congress to allow more time for lawmakers to study and debate the government's budget reports at their annual sessions.

It is worth serious deliberation if we truly want the kind of changes we are talking about.

The government's spending plans should be a core topic at all levels of People's Congresses, given their overwhelming weight in public administration.

(China Daily March 22, 2007)