Appointment of new health minister approved
By Sun Shangwu (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-28 05:50

China's top legislators in Beijing yesterday approved the State Council's decision to appoint Gao Qiang as Minister of Health.

Members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) also passed the Law on Civil Servants at the final session of their four-day meeting.

Gao was promoted from his position as Executive Vice Health Minister after Vice-Premier Wu Yi was removed from her concurrent post of Health Minister.

Wu was appointed as Health Minister on April 26, 2003 in an effort to contain the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic.

The State Council appointed Gao as Executive Vice-Minister of Health on May 6, 2003.

The 61-year-old Gao, a graduate from the Economic Department of the Beijing-based Renmin University, started his career in the Financial Department of Hebei Province and later worked in the Ministry of Finance.

Before moving to the Ministry of Health, he worked as the deputy secretary general of the State Council.

The Law on Civil Servants was passed yesterday after NPC Standing Committee members made two reviews.

The law refers to working staff who perform government and law-enforcing duties whose salaries are supported by the State fund.

There are more than 6.3 million civil servants in China, including government officials at all levels, police, procuratorates, judges and diplomats, Hou Jianliang, vice-minister of personnel said.

Chinese lawmakers started drafting the Law on Civil Servants in August 2002 with the aim of ensuring the competency and honesty of civil servants, said Li Fei, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee.

The law, comprising 107 articles, regulates the rights and obligations of civil servants, their ranks, recruitment, assessment, salaries, training, rewards and punishments.

"The law will give civil servants a clearer perception of their career responsibilities and performance standards," said Hou at a press conference yesterday.

According to the law, officials who incur large losses through mistakes and negligence should take the blame and quit their jobs.

The law stipulates that all public servants should be recruited through just, open and fair examinations.

(China Daily 04/28/2005 page2)

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