Bill K. P. Chou - Government and Policy-Making Reform in China: The Implications of Governing Capacity

Chinas rapid economic development has not translated automatically into political development, with many of its institutions still in need of major reform. In the post-Mao era, despite the decentralisation of local government with significant administrative and fiscal authority, Chinas government and policy-making processes have retained much of the inefficiency and corruption characteristic of the earlier period. This book analyses the implementation of government and policy-making reform in China, focusing in particular on the reform programmes instituted since the early 1990s. It considers all the important areas of reform, including the enhancement of policy-making capacity, reform of taxation and fund transfer policies, tightening of financial control, civil service reform and market deregulation. It assesses the course of policy reform in each of these areas, considers how successful reforms have been, and outlines what remains to be done. In particular, it explores the impact on the reform process of Chinas entry into the WTO in 2001. It demonstrates that the process of reform in China has been one of continuous conflict between the agenda of political elites in central government, and the priorities of local leaders, with local agents often distorting, delaying or ignoring the policies emanating from the central government.

Bill K.P. Chou is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Macau. His research interests include policy process, public sector and civil service reform, central-local relationships, local government, political economy, governance of China, and public sector reform in Macao.

Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, China

Oxford University, UK

Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Bristol, UK

First published 2009
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.

To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledges collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.

2009 Bill K.P. Chou

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Chou, Bill K. P.
Government and policy-making reform in China: the implications of governing capacity/Bill K.P. Chou.
p. cm. (Comparative development and policy in Asia series; 6)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. ChinaPolitics and government2002 I. Title.
JQ1510.C48354 2009
320.60951dc22
2008051956

ISBN 0-203-87634-2 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN10: 0-415-43704-0 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-87634-2 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-43704-2 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-87634-3 (ebk)

Proportion of central revenue and expenditure as the gross government revenue and expenditure

Central revenue and expenditure, 19912005

Budgetary and extra-budgetary revenue, 19972004

Number of departments in state council

The number of township-level governments

The size of the public sector, 19932005

Distribution of licensing items

Perceived changes in top four business challenges over the last two years, 2007

Perceived attitude of central and local governments towards market opening, 2007

Governing capacities and policy making

Voluntarism in China

Tax revenue and GDP

A breakdown of tax types, 1993 and 2005

Revenue and expenditure of provincial-level governments

Fiscal transfer, 19922004

Gross fiscal transfer, 19942005

Debts of three township-level governments, 19962002

The composition of debt of four townships, 19962001

Tax-and-fee burden in a Heilongjiang Province village

Tax-and-fee burden in a Jiangsu Province village

Expenditure for education and health care

Distribution of fiscal transfer in 2005, by regions

A breakdown of gross fiscal transfer, 19942005

Expenditure on social security, 20015

Central leading group for economics and finance, 2006

Extra-budgetary revenues of central and local governments

Revenue and expenditure classification

Number of central state organs audited and amount of misused funds discovered, 20046

Falsifying financial data for control purpose

Unauthorised use of budgetary expenditure, 2005

State ministries and commissions (selected years)

The planned establishment of different regions, 1993

Permitted and actual number of public employees, 2006

Administrative expenses, 19922005

Performance indictors for evaluating the county and city mayors in Liaoning Province

The reported and actual achievements and weakness of four provincial-level governments

Budgetary and actual expenditure on civil service training

Composition of 2006 wage system (grade wages (yuan))

Composition of 2006 wage system (responsibility wages (zhiwu gongzi))

Operating and administrative expenses and its share in extra-budgetary expenditure

The composition of compensation cost on civil servants in selected governments, 1998

Types of entry barriers reported by the managers of 138 Chinese firms

Selected indicators of business regulation in eight developing countries, 2005

A comparison of the minimum capital requirement in eight developing countries in 2003

Administrative and institutional fees

The number of licensing items in selected governments

Distribution of licensing items among central bureaucracies