By Ge Yanfeng, Yu Dong, the Research Department of Social Development

Research Report No 194, 2013

Abstract:

China has seen some progress in changing its government functions, since the reforms and opening up started in the late 70s, especially during the 16th National Congress of CPC, in 2012. However, there are still many problems and challenges with the government administration and different levels and departments lack clear assignments and responsibilities, and the decision-making process and acting on those decisions is backward and the supervisory mechanism needs to be improved.

At the same time, the government's relationship with the marketplace is unclear in many ways, with the government shouldering too many responsibilities and under pressure to manage things. China badly needs to accelerate its reform, with the goal of making its functions and administrative practices clear and carrying out its functions in a practical way. The country needs to give greater responsibility to different levels of government in various areas and it needs to clarify those responsibilities to separate the decision-making and implementation process and coordinate things better; but, at the same time, the decision-making needs to be more democratic and scientific, management needs to be standardized, the supervision needs to be more diverse, and the assessment of reform results needs to be improved to reinforce controls on public power and accountability.