Tall order for civil servants

Many find the authorities' latest frugality standards for officials challenging, An Baijie reports.

After Zheng Dewei's 27-year-old son brought his girlfriend home early this year, the township official started planning a magnificent wedding for the young couple.

But for the past few months, as the date for his son's wedding draws closer, Zheng has found himself in a dilemma - how should he celebrate the occasion without breaking the government's rules on frugality for officials?

"A large number of government officials have been punished recently for throwing lavish weddings. It's obvious that the Communist Party of China is serious about promoting frugality among officials," said Zheng, who is an official from Chaohe township in Rizhao, Shandong province.

The Communist Party of China put forward the frugality rules in December 2012, a month after its new leadership was elected. The rules require officials to get close to the people by cleaning up undesirable work styles including extravagance and hedonism.

Under the rules, grand celebrations and events for weddings, birthdays and funerals are forbidden, since some officials have taken advantage of such events to pocket money from subordinates jockeying for promotions or from businesspeople seeking contracts or approval for projects.

Zheng has noticed that the punishments for officials who had broken the rules were "really harsh".

"Unlike in the past, when officials always received warnings for such behavior, many have been dismissed from their positions in this campaign," he said.

On June 30, six officials in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, were punished for accepting money during birthday celebrations and housewarming parties, according to a statement from the city's discipline inspection commission.

In one of the cases, Gao Wenqi, a village official in Liaozhong county, was removed from his post for accepting 110,900 yuan ($17,880) through a housewarming celebration.

Last year, disciplinary authorities nationwide punished 30,420 officials for violating the frugality rules, according to the country's top anti-graft watchdog.

To curb officials' involvement in grand weddings and funerals, the top anti-graft agency on June 17 published an article on its website laying out a set of rules.

According to the rules, officials are not allowed to use public funds or public assets such as government vehicles to mark weddings, birthdays or funerals. They are also forbidden to accept bribes through the events.

Some local authorities have made detailed guidelines on events. Hunan provincial authorities state that officials can invite a maximum of 200 people for wedding banquets. Authorities in Hechi, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have stipulated that the officials can give not more than 100 yuan each as token sums for well-wishes at their colleagues' weddings.

For township official Zheng Dewei, the ban has put him at a loss - he had given substantial amounts of such money for his colleagues' weddings in the past and he will most certainly incur significant losses if they do not attend his son's wedding in turn.

"There's been a recent buzzword for this: Guan Bu Liao Sheng (meaning that officials cannot not get by)," Zheng said.

Xia Huan, a civil servant who has worked for six years at the Beijing municipal government, said that officials are facing many problems including slow wage increases, a flawed evaluation system and long working hours.

"Even though we are not satisfied, many of us don't dare to complain in public. If we do, netizens will mock and criticize us," he said.

Li Wei, a professor of clean-governance research with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that since government officials have chosen to be in the civil service, they should give up some of their rights and interests.

Banning grand celebrations can boost frugality and cut unnecessary social activities to help them spend more time with their families, he said.

Officials' resignation

The tightened regulations toward officials have forced many of them, including some who work for the central ministries, to quit their jobs.

On March 30, Chen Xitong, former spokesman for the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, was employed as a senior executive at Qihoo 360, a company that offers Internet and mobile security services to more than 400 million users.

A civil servant for more than two decades, Chen had worked his way to a vice-prefecture-level official. Chen has not said publicly why he quit his official post.

A report by Xin'an Evening News said that at least five officials in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, also resigned from their posts last year.

It remains unclear how many officials have resigned nationwide. A survey of about 2,500 grassroots officials in 10 provinces by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences last year showed that about 79.89 percent of them said they are tired of their jobs.

More officials are quitting their "iron rice bowl" jobs - considered to offer steady income and social security - amid the anti-graft drive, said a report published in May by the Southern Weekly, which is based in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

In mid-January, Lin Yingwu, director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, said that he had also noticed some news reports about government officials' resignation.

It is natural for some civil servants to want to take on new jobs and their choices should be respected, he told reporters during the annual session of the provincial people's congress.

Li Yang, an official from Tianjin municipality, said that he is considering quitting his job and returning to Beijing to look for new work. Four years ago, he resigned from a media company in Beijing and became a civil servant.

"A government job is not the same as what the public takes for granted. It's hard for me to take a break even during the weekend," he said, adding that his salary cannot meet his family's financial needs such as repaying loans for his house.

He is set for promotion this year but he would rather get a new job with higher pay and "less mental stress", Li said.

The number of applicants for civil servant posts in 21 provincial areas is about 2.56 million this year, about 360,900 less than last year, according to statistics released in April by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Zhou Shuzhen, a professor of clean-governance research with Renmin University of China, said that the decrease of civil servant applicants is good news because it shows that college graduates are choosing more "creative" jobs.

"The nature of civil service jobs is to serve the people rather than accumulate wealth; if the officials are not satisfied with their jobs, they can choose to leave," she said.

But for many college graduates, getting a civil service position remains their top choice.

Gu Ruocun, a graduate from Shandong Normal University, said that his girlfriend's mother has required him to apply for a government position.

"I have heard that civil servant jobs are not as ideal as many people think, but I would like to have a go," Gu said, adding that it is not easy to get a job since 7.27 million college students are expected to graduate this year.

Contact the writer at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn