Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

"Like the Ministry of Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture has placed a large number of scientific research institutions in Beijing. The Ministry of Agriculture's Academy of Agricultural Sciences has 47 research institutes. In animal husbandry research, there are the Animal Husbandry Research Institute, the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Research Institute, the Pig Breeding Research Institute, the Sheep Breeding Research Institute, the Cattle Research Institute, the Buffalo Research Institute, and the Fur Animal Research Institute, among others. In oilseed crop research, there are the Oilseed Research Institute, the Soybean Research Institute, the Peanut Research Institute, and so on."

"This is just the situation for the Ministry of Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Metallurgical Industry and several other ministries of machinery industry have hundreds of research institutes under them, all currently located in Beijing."

"The staff expansion in Party committee departments and public institutions is mainly in areas that are completely unnecessary for their work, such as professional art troupes and professional sports teams."

"Also, there are all sorts of exhibitions being held all the time. There are national exhibitions and there are international exhibitions. To accommodate these exhibitions, Beijing now has hundreds of guesthouses that cater to the exhibitions. Most of these guesthouses are affiliated with the Party committee departments."

"But these arbitrarily added institutions are currently largely beyond the control of the compilation committee."

"So my first suggestion is that the Central Organization Committee should be under the dual leadership of the Central Committee and the State Council. It should be divided into the Central Organization Committee and the State Council Organization Committee, with two different names but one team, fully responsible for the staffing of Party committees, administrative departments, and public institutions."

"Currently, many staff expansions have occurred without the approval of the Establishment Committee. Management in this area must be strengthened. Any department that adds an organization or personnel must obtain approval from the Establishment Committee. Department leaders who privately add organizations or personnel without approval will be held directly accountable. Only in this way can we control the trend of staff expansion."

Compared with when Wei Hongjun was in charge of the compilation committee, the power of the compilation committee has decreased a lot.

When Wei Hongjun was in charge of the Organization Committee, the Secretariat, the State Council, the Organization Department, the Central Military Commission, and major enterprises all hoped to split the committee. This was because the Organization Committee had too much power, allowing it to intervene in and control everything. It even had the power to influence the organization of the major military regions.

But things are different now. The Compilation and Establishment Committee, under the leadership of the State Council, only had a limited say in the executive branch. However, the Ninth National Congress established several more working committees, and now even the executive branch can no longer be overseen. Other Party committees, departments, and powerful public institutions no longer take the Compilation and Establishment Committee seriously.

Therefore, Liu Xiufeng's work was difficult to carry out. Now that the organization needed to be streamlined, Liu Xiufeng saw this as an opportunity to establish a committee.

"Comrade Liu Xiufeng's words make a lot of sense."

Organization Department Minister Chen Tanqiu nodded.

"Party committees, administrative departments, and public institutions should all be subject to the constraints of the establishment committee. We could establish two separate committees, the Central Establishment Committee and the State Council Establishment Committee, with the same staff. Or we could simply use the Central Establishment Committee to oversee the establishment of all Party, government, and enterprise departments."

Others nodded.

Although such a change would expand the power of the compilation committee, everyone believed that this method could effectively curb the blind expansion of agency staff.

Our views on this matter are relatively consistent. Although there are some conflicts of interest, there are no major conflicts of opinion on the overall direction.

"Comrade Liu Xiufeng, please continue."

"Secondly, Party committees, administrative departments, and even our state-owned factories have been intentionally or unintentionally creating unlimited organizations that have nothing to do with their own work. There is a serious tendency to seek expansion and perfection."

"Not to mention the professional song and dance troupes and sports teams, there are also specialized printing plants, guesthouses, restaurants, barber shops, and nearly every aspect of daily life. Many departments are run like small societies. Under such circumstances, how could the staff not swell?"

"According to this investigation, there are nearly 30,000 newly created 'illegal' positions, not only without approval from the establishment committee but also outside the approved establishment by the ministries. These individuals receive long-term salaries without formal employment. Some even occupy quotas, remain unemployed for extended periods, and still receive salaries."

"Central Party and government departments are not institutions that run side businesses. Having a large number of these side businesses is itself abnormal."

It is not just state-owned enterprises that have this tendency to run small societies; central party and government departments also have this tendency.

This is definitely not a good thing. A central government ministry even opening restaurants and barber shops under it is no joke.

But the current central government ministries are just so ridiculous. They want to manage the eating, drinking, defecating and urinating of the ministry staff.

"Thirdly, everyone is flocking to Beijing, which has caused it to become overcrowded. Regardless of the organization, they'll move to Beijing if they have the chance."

"Take the sheep breeding research institute for example. What's the point of putting it in Beijing? And the buffalo research institute, for example. Are there buffaloes in Beijing? Such a research institute should be established in areas where buffaloes are native."

"There are also quite a few industrial research institutes. Placing them in Beijing has its advantages, but they are completely disconnected from production bases, making collaboration between the two sides extremely difficult during actual production. This results in a complete disconnect between the research institutes and actual production, wasting the institutes' scientific research capabilities."

"For example, there are currently more than 170 design agencies in Beijing, plus the design agencies of many universities and institutions in Beijing. The design capabilities are very strong. However, they usually do some non-production design, mostly internal operational design."

"This creates a huge contradiction. While the national economy is developing, local governments are severely lacking professional designers. Many city and county engineering design leaders are recent college graduates, learning and designing as they go. As a result, many local projects take numerous detours. Meanwhile, a large number of professional and capable designers are working on non-production designs in Beijing."

"This problem is very widespread. Various ministries have many research institutes under their control, but there is a serious shortage of technical personnel at the local level."

"Now, various institutions are flocking to Beijing, resulting in Beijing's strong scientific research capabilities. However, these research institutions in Beijing are doing repetitive work. This is a serious waste of my country's scientific research capabilities."

Wei Hongjun nodded.

Even Wei Hongjun, who has chaired the Scientific Working Committee for four years, is reflecting on this.

However, aside from focusing on cutting-edge science and technology in recent years, Wei Hongjun has surprisingly failed to identify, or perhaps even pay close attention to, the serious problems that have arisen in this area. Research institutions are clustered in Beijing, and the Academy of Sciences and various ministries and commissions each have their own research institutes, leading to a serious fragmentation of research capabilities.

Although they are scientific research institutions in the same field, they are affiliated with different departments, making cooperation difficult.

On the contrary, the areas that need scientific research the most lack sufficient scientific research resources. This is a major problem in the layout of scientific research.

If it weren't for the nationwide drought and the central government's comprehensive investigation, Wei Hongjun would not have discovered this problem.

Wei Hongjun realized that he had been in a high position for too long. Reading reports every day had also caused him to become detached from the masses.

"Comrade Chen Tanqiu, what do you think?"

"What Comrade Liu Xiufeng said makes sense. Beijing has too many units, some of which are not needed in Beijing. Or, in other words, they are not very useful in Beijing, but can play a big role in the countryside."

"This streamlining of institutions should be accompanied by deployments in this area. If some scientific research institutions can play a greater role in the local areas, then they should go there rather than remain in Beijing."

Beijing's population has been expanding rapidly in recent years, and given China's current traffic conditions, a large city like Beijing carries a significant burden.

Beijing's population has already exceeded 800 million and is still growing. If it is not brought under control, it will inevitably exceed million in ten years.

This scale of population expansion has brought enormous pressure to Beijing’s urban management, Beijing residents’ accommodation conditions, and Beijing’s food and daily necessities supply.

Therefore, streamlining institutions not only means streamlining government staff, but also means streamlining Beijing’s population.

"According to our investigations at the Letters and Calls Bureau, many officials who left Beijing for work in the localities left their families in Beijing while they went to work in the localities themselves. This situation is becoming more and more common."

"This kind of thing happens mainly because in recent years, amidst the peaceful development environment, some government employees have developed a desire for comfort and enjoyment, becoming overly concerned with personal matters and nostalgic for life in big cities. To provide for their children's schooling and the elderly's well-being, they leave their families behind in Beijing."

Xia Houwen spoke out some of the current problems.

The Central Bureau of Letters and Calls currently oversees letters and calls. Therefore, we receive a relatively high volume of these letters. This is because many officials are assigned to local posts alone, initially to provide for their families and to prepare for their future return to Beijing.

However, if a person works for a long time, they are more likely to make some lifestyle mistakes in the local area. The Organization Department and the Supervisory Commission have dealt with many such cases.

Upon hearing Xia Houwen's words, Chen Tanqiu said, "This kind of behavior should be corrected. If our cadres and their families indulge in pleasure, then our leading bodies will become divorced from reality and the masses, fostering a negative atmosphere. If our cadres go to work in the provinces, but their families remain in Beijing, then this not only increases the state's financial expenditure, but also increases the burden on the city."

Following the severe drought, the entire country is currently undergoing a nationwide restructuring, not only in industry and agriculture, but also in response to the massive urban expansion of the past decade.

"I also think that cadres should go to work in the provinces unless their family members have important jobs in Beijing. Otherwise, if the cadres go to the provinces, their families should go with them."

Tan Zhenlin spoke up in support.

"That's true. But the Organization Department should coordinate well. We can't have family members who originally had jobs in Beijing but are left without jobs after the cadres go to the local areas."

Zhao Zhensheng spoke.

Wei Hongjun didn't express his opinion, but instead took note of everyone's comments. Deng Hedao said, "Those professional art troupes and sports teams should be abolished or decentralized. Strict regulations must be in place. From now on, art troupes and sports teams in all units must be amateur organizations. Adding professional art troupes or sports teams is strictly prohibited. Organizations like these that are not directly related to the main work can only be amateur activities."

This is the most ridiculous thing in this comprehensive investigation.

Central Party and government departments aren't art groups; to engage in such nonsense is sheer nonsense. Across central government units, there are nearly 20,000 people working in these outrageous organizations.

In order to set up these professional art troupes and sports teams, these ministries recruited a large number of personnel from local areas.

"Institutions like printing houses, guesthouses, restaurants, and barber shops under various ministries should be separated from them. Those that should be merged should be merged, and those that should be closed should be closed. Some can be sold to cooperatives."

Deng He continued to express his opinions.

Cities also have various cooperatives. Rural cooperatives were initially focused on agriculture, but later also began to develop industry and commerce.

Urban cooperatives are cooperatives established by handicraftsmen who unite together.

So, cities now also have cooperative enterprises. Some of the side businesses of central government ministries and commissions are being merged into state-owned enterprises. For example, many printing plants will be merged into the Beijing Printing Plant. Some businesses, like restaurants and barber shops, can be sold to cooperatives and run by city cooperatives.

"Based on the current investigation, Beijing cannot absorb so many spin-off businesses from various ministries. There are so many printing houses, but Beijing doesn't need so many."

Wei Hongjun interrupted.

All these central government departments are going crazy. Every department has its own printing factory, but now they are all being separated. Where in Beijing can there be so many printing businesses?

We can't allow state-owned printing factories to merge into these printing factories and then lose money to support so many workers.

"The development of my country's printing industry is currently lagging behind, so many regions need the printing industry. We can choose to relocate these printing plants. Many places in the northwest and southwest need printing plants."

Deng He replied.

The printing factory that is looked down upon in Beijing becomes a good thing when it arrives in the local area.

Deng He continued, "I think Beijing's universities should also undergo some rectification. This investigation did not involve universities. However, the number of existing universities in Beijing, those that have moved in from outside, and those that have been newly established in the past decade is simply too great."

"Compared to Beijing's vast number of universities, many underdeveloped provinces currently have only a pitiful number of undergraduate institutions. Many provinces lack sufficient educational resources, so they can only establish a few junior colleges."

"Some of Beijing's universities should be relocated to support higher education in other provinces."

Wei Hongjun neither agreed nor opposed. The imbalance in university resources should be adjusted, but how to do it is no small matter.

Wei Hongjun listened to everyone's opinions and concluded, "I've briefly summarized everyone's opinions. The overall idea behind this streamlining is that we must be resolute and implement drastic measures with a revolutionary spirit. Only with a resolute determination from the central government can we truly complete the streamlining work."

"Redundant and dispensable institutions must be resolutely abolished. Institutions with overlapping tasks or similar natures must be resolutely merged. Institutional levels and excessive staffing must be resolutely reduced. Work that can be more effectively managed by local authorities should be delegated to local authorities along with the institutions and personnel. Some institutions that are more conveniently located outside Beijing should be resolutely relocated out of Beijing."

"This streamlining will be carried out simultaneously across Party committees, administrative departments, and public institutions. Party committees will be led by the Organization Department; administrative departments will be led by various working committees; and the Supervisory Commission, the Organization and Compilation Commission, and the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls will oversee the entire process."

"The personnel being streamlined this time will be handled uniformly by the Central Organization Department. We must resolutely transfer the majority of personnel to the grassroots level to strengthen the front lines of industrial and agricultural production, and their families must resolutely accompany the transferred personnel. A small number of personnel who have the qualifications and are needed for their work can apply to higher and secondary schools, or study at the professional and technical schools run by this department."

"The Organization Committee shall have full authority over the staffing of Party committee departments, administrative departments, and public institutions. It must gradually establish a quota system for each institution's staffing and strengthen its management of staffing. In the past, the lack of a quota system, coupled with lax management, led to excessive and rapid increases in staffing. From now on, all staffing plans for Party committee departments, administrative departments, and public institutions must be submitted to the Central Organization Committee for approval."

"No new organizations or personnel may be added without the approval of the establishment committee. Any department that arbitrarily adds organizations or personnel, attempting to create a fait accompli, will be held accountable by its leaders. Appropriate ratios should also be established for the staffing of various departments, including business personnel, administrative staff, service personnel, and full-time Party and League cadres, to ensure more rational use of personnel."

"The problems of bloated bureaucracy, overcrowded personnel, redundant personnel, and impure organization in central government departments actually exist to varying degrees in organizations at all levels, from provinces, cities, counties, and even townships. Therefore, this streamlining of central government departments must be done well and set an example. We must carry forward our Party's fine tradition of hard work and plain living, resolutely implement the principle of building the country through diligence and thrift, and establish a good atmosphere throughout the country."

1097 Succession

After the Secretariat meeting, Wei Hongjun handed over the streamlining reports of various central units approved by the Secretariat to the Chairman.

The Chairman carefully read the Secretariat's report and said solemnly, "The problem is very serious, even more serious than I imagined. Our economy has developed somewhat in recent years, and fiscal revenue has increased considerably, but we cannot afford to be extravagant and wasteful. We must be frugal and thrifty. Too many people are living off the government, seriously impacting the development of our industry, agriculture, and commerce, and increasing the burden on the state and the people."

"There are also song and dance troupes and sports teams like these that have nothing to do with the work of these units. If you want to see song and dance, Beijing has plenty of art troupes of all kinds. Why is it necessary to set up a song and dance troupe within a unit? Setting up such an organization is completely unnecessary."

The Chairman was also quite surprised when he read the report from the Secretariat.

Although the expansion of the number of government agencies has been common since the revolutionary era, the Chairman had not expected such a huge expansion of the number of central government agencies.

The establishment of various institutions that are completely unrelated to work still makes the Chairman very angry. The past two years have been difficult for the whole country due to the severe drought.

Although no serious problems occurred thanks to grain reserves from the central, provincial, municipal, and county governments, the drought caused countless industrial and agricultural projects to be cut short.

The central government has been calling on everyone to be frugal and save food, and criticizing extravagance and waste.

But look at these units in Beijing, they support so many people. They can only hold a few activities within the unit, and they also support a special song and dance troupe.

"What's going on with this exhibition?"

"It's about each unit showcasing its own history and achievements."

“This is not good.

The Chairman shook his head and said, "Today you hold one, tomorrow I hold another. There's a pervasive spirit of comparison. The Secretariat and the State Council should discuss and come up with some rules for the exhibition."

The country has designated several important international and national exhibitions, and each unit can compete with its achievements at these exhibitions. At other times, units are not allowed to hold exhibitions on their own; they must apply to the Secretariat and the State Council for permission.

"Yes."