New regulation asks officials to cut red tape, improve work efficiency

Chinese officials are required to have fewer meetings, file concise documents and minimize inspections in line with a regulation published by the central government on Wednesday.

Stressing the need to curb red tape, the 21-article regulation, which was issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, the country's cabinet, sets clear requirements for streamlining workflows and improving work efficiency.

It aims to free grassroots officials from pointless formalities and bureaucracy, and refine a long-term mechanism for reducing burdens at the primary level, the regulation said.

It calls for strict control over the number of documents and meetings, with the content required to be concise and to the point. It also mandates the cleaning-up, reduction or integration of digital platforms and mobile applications used for administrative affairs, so as to enable grassroots officials to focus more on practical work.

China has strengthened its combat against formalism and bureaucracy over the past decade, with more targeted measures taken to spare grassroots officials from having to participate in unnecessary meetings or write tedious reports.

Last year, China released its first intra-Party rules aimed at relieving primary-level officials from unnecessary workloads by addressing redundant formalities and improving governance amid persistent red tape. The rules concentrate a wide rage of issues, such as reducing excessive paperwork and inspections that hinder grassroots officials' ability to effectively perform their duties.

Some cities have also taken actions. In Chongqing, for instance, grassroots workers now have more time to visit communities, interact with residents and resolve problems in person because the city established an intelligent system that enables seamless information sharing across different levels of government, from municipal agencies to districts and villages by consolidating data from many departments, standardizing it, and updating it in real time. The initiative has helped reduce time spent on tasks such as data collection and filling out forms by grassroots workers.