治理先手棋（zhili xianshou qi)：Upper-hand move of governance

On Sunday, People's Daily began reviewing the new practice, new achievements and new highlights of the leadership's governance since the 18th Communist Party of China National Congress in November 2012. The first article pointed out that the new leadership with Xi Jinping as the head has regarded improving the working style of officials as the upper-hand move of governance.

The Central Committee of the CPC has focused on upgrading the Party's governance and over the past three years has insisted on the implementation of the "eight-point" guideline for fighting bureaucracy, formalism and extravagance among the Party members.

The Party leaders have set good a example for all Party members by practicing a good working style and strictly implementing the "eight-point" guideline. Many unnecessary meetings and documents have been canceled and the frequency and duration of meetings have been reduced.

Efforts have also been made to streamline administration and delegate power to lower levels of government. In the past three years more than 137,000 items for administrative examination and approval have been canceled or delegated to lower levels of offialdom.

The unfavorable trend of extravagance and abuse of public funds has also been effectively curbed. The public has widely praised the changes in working style that have been established since the implementation of the "eight-point" guideline.

(China Daily 01/05/2016 page8)