Local Government Rewarded For Streamlining

The Ministry of Finance has announced a new central government policy to reward county and local governments for reducing personnel, streamlining the administration and ensuring expenditures on key projects.

According to the policy, county and local governments will be awarded 500,000 yuan (about 73,000 US dollars) for removing each administration and 4,000 yuan for reducing staff by one person in 2007. The government will pay 500 yuan for the addition of each person over the national average.

As for the key projects, which include educational, health and agricultural projects, the rewards will be given in accordance with an index of difficulty.

The policy also states that local governments should adjust their policies according to their financial situations, and use the rewards properly to improve the quality of civil services.

The central government will check data and information reported by local governments and monitor reward distribution. If any irregularities are confirmed, the central government will diminish the reward, or in some serious cases, take it away entirely.