China’s economic growth is at risk of being hollowed out by red tape, bureaucracy and a growing sense of bottom-up resignation, according to a leading academic at Wuhan University.
“In many fields, there is a tendency toward superficiality over substance, leading to social stagnation. This constitutes the most serious crisis of our time,” said a sociologist specializing in rural governance. Professor Lu Dwen said in a WeChat post on Sunday. A recent field trip to rural China.
“Grassroots governments prioritize reporting to higher authorities rather than addressing real issues.
“Village-level organizations prioritize following orders from higher-ups over serving the community, and even when they do serve the community, it is often just to show off to higher-ups.”
Universities tout their efforts to develop innovative talent, but concrete measures often only encourage low-level repetition.
He also said that at a reunion with his middle school classmates who are civil servants, teachers, doctors, businessmen and employees of state-owned enterprises, they all expressed concern about the trend towards red tape in the workplace.
The trend toward formalism has also tainted academia, which is now exposed to a variety of indicators and standards, Lu said.
“Universities loudly promote the cultivation of innovative talent, but concrete measures often only encourage low-level repetition,” he added in a WeChat post (see this post). was widely reposted and then deleted).
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Factories in the industrial park are generally operating below capacity, and some have seen their profit margins drop significantly despite many orders, Lu said.
He said that in the face of weak domestic demand, some factories are turning to overseas trade with countries involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which may be satisfactory in terms of payment collection. But he added that there was also a lot of uncertainty.
“In the past, workers could protest if they were not paid in full for overtime, but now if there is resistance, the factory must immediately pay and fire the worker.”
If economic growth does not return after two sessions and pressures remain high, a change in policy could occur.
Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Reform Association, a think tank linked to the Guangdong provincial government, said addressing the causes would likely require intervention from the highest levels of leadership.
“The current reluctance of officials to take responsibility has encouraged a tendency to ignore concrete results in favor of symbolic actions,” Peng said.
“Rather than blindly following political correctness, it is essential to emphasize competency in performance appraisals.
“If economic growth does not return after two sessions and pressures remain high, a change in policy may occur. Otherwise, continuing down the same path will lead to dark and disastrous It could have consequences.”
China’s annual parliamentary session, the Second Session, is scheduled to begin on March 5th.
Unpaid and often hidden debts are also burdening grassroots governments, with bureaucracy and political performance seen as exacerbating the dilemma.
Some lower-level governments are struggling to maintain operations as staff fail to meet performance targets, and in some villages, staff are not being paid, Lu added.
However, despite the lack of funding, villages are still burdened with burdensome and bureaucratic responsibilities.
“What is most frustrating for the village is that all the work prioritizes form over substance and tends to unnecessarily complicate matters by adding unnecessary steps to each work,” he said. added.