Central govt to ensure policies enforced locally

The central government has sent several inspection groups to see whether national policies are carried out at the grassroots level, a move aimed at tackling difficulties in enforcement.

A series of problems in policy enforcement surfaced after the State Council, China's Cabinet, recently allocated eight inspection groups to 27 administrative authorities and departments in 16 provinces and municipalities.

Premier Li Keqiang heard the report of those groups in an executive meeting on Wednesday. Li stressed that all the authorities must enhance their awareness to shoulder the responsibility of putting policies into practice.

The inspection groups found that some local governments dragged their heels when carrying out policies, while some governments eluded their responsibilities.

A few officials were found during the inspection to be derelict in their duties and not enforcing the policies, said the groups' report, adding that some local officials treated policies with indifference.

Li said the officials and authorities that did not carry out the policies should be held accountable, and the central government will set a time limit for enforcement.

Specific measures for the policies in provinces and municipalities must be issued in a timely way, while the improvement of local rules should be also accelerated, Li said.

The corrective actions must be reported to the central government within a definite time, and superficial enforcement must be banned, he said.

Li required local governments to reduce procedures to put the policies into practice, thus stimulating the market's vitality and social creativity.

Some industries, including those in energy conservation and environmental protection, should be further improved, and the central government will provide aid in areas where enforcement is a challenge, he said.

Regular inspections are also needed in local governments and departments, he added.

Yang Weidong, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, approved of the inspections and said they are a better way to create communication between the central government and local authorities.

"The inspections can help the leadership know whether their policies are realistic and expose problems or difficulties as local governments implement the policies," Yang said.

"Some reforms were hardly effective in the past because they were not put in place," he said. "But now, the enforcement of a policy across the country can be supervised and pushed under the inspection."

The inspection is also helpful for policymakers to improve their work, he added.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn