清理紅頭文件(qīnglǐ hóngtóu wénjiàn): Cleanup of 'redhead documents'

Since last year the State Council, China's Cabinet, has been abolishing outdated documents. And after an executive meeting of the State Council on Wednesday, it was announced that in a cleanup of "redhead documents", 506 documents had been cancelled, in addition to the 489 State Council documents cancelled at the end of last year.

The documents being cancelled have been labeled "zombie documents" by the media.

Some of the documents were in violation of current laws or lacked a legal basis, while other documents were simply outdated or could impede social and economic development, said an announcement issued after Wednesday's meeting, which was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

The cleanup of "redhead documents" is expected to give new momentum to the economy and promote restructuring by reducing government restrictions and obstacles, said the announcement. It is expected the move will also help reduce the abuse of administrative power.

The document cleanup work is of great significance because it is conducive to making clear the boundaries between administrative power and the law.

The central government should keep an eye on local governments' implementation and supervision of the document cleanup work.

Meanwhile, governments at all levels should also learn from the central government's example and clean up any zombie documents they have issued.