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Government officials get on their bikes in new road for transport
By Fang Yibo and Nie Xin |
July 9, 2009, Thursday
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In China, government officials are usually provided with state-subsidized vehicles. However, from May this year, Hangzhou reformed the way it used government cars for 21 government departments. Fang Yibo and Nie Xin hit the road. He Rongkun, director of Hangzhou Environmental Protection Bureau, used to have a Buick car as his government vehicle. The daily expense of the car was covered by the government and there was a driver provided.
But now the 58-year-old cycles to work on his daughter's old yellow bicycle.
"The bicycle is very light and it's convenient to ride," says He. "It takes me about one hour from home to the office by bike. If I have to be in a formal suit for important meetings, I will consider taking a taxi."
In China, government officials are usually provided with state-subsidized vehicles. However, from May this year, Hangzhou reformed the way it used government cars for 21 government departments. Under the new regulations, government officials below bureau director level or deputy minster level are not entitled to government cars. Government workers instead get transport subsidies.
Public concerns of corruption have been sparked over the newly revealed subsidy plans amid national government transport reforms.
To cut spending on government cars, reforms have been launched to reduce or even scrap government vehicles and extra subsidies are being offered to workers to cover their costs for business trips.
Unlike He, some civil servants have chosen to drive their own cars to work, driving through crowded traffic and experiencing difficulties in finding parking spaces just like everyone else.
Now in Hangzhou the first batch of more than 200 government cars from 21 government departments are in storage and most of them are waiting for public auction. Only a few will be taken to the government car fleet as "working cars." The Official Business Car Service Center will be set up soon to provide cars for necessary important official use.
"We are encouraging civil servants to take public transport or ride bicycles," says Fang Dongxiao from the Hangzhou Commission for Disciplinary Inspection.
The reform has first involved 21 official departments including the Environmental Protection Bureau and the Finance Bureau and Justice Bureau. By 2011, all official government departments in Hangzhou will have completed the revolution in government car usage.
Early last year, the reform in car usage started in some areas in Hangzhou, including Xihu and Xiaoshan districts. Data released from the Hangzhou Statistics Bureau shows that since the introduction of the new system, the expense of government car use in seven districts in Hangzhou, including Xihu, Yuhang and Xiaoshan, was cut by 38 percent.
According to forecasts by the Office of the Hangzhou Car Use Reform, expenses on government cars will be reduced by almost 50 percent, from 120 million yuan (US$17.56 million) to 60.99 million yuan annually if the reform expands citywide.
"The revolution may also push civil servants into buying cars, stimulating domestic demand," says Hong Hangyong, Party secretary of Xiaoshao District.
The government car use reform is not new in China, but it's seldom that examples like Hangzhou proceed in such an efficient way and cover such a wide range.
"Some official leaders in China used to link the power of the office closely with the work cars provided by the government. But it's totally wrong concept of privilege," says Yang Jianhua, a professor from the Hangzhou Academy of Social Sciences. "Government car use has become a symbol of power rather than an important business necessity. This reform will help to break the bureaucracy."
However, at the same time as cutting the number of official cars, the Hangzhou government started to give its civil servants a transport subsidy. The money is directly sent into their bank accounts and can be used to pay the cost of public transport or fuel. But the money cannot be taken out in cash.
The subsidies, at nine levels, range from 2,600 yuan a month for senior officials to 300 yuan for ordinary workers.
The public is not alone in querying the policy and the standards of the transport subsidy. Some civil servants have said that the hundreds of yuan subsidy offered is not enough, especially those who have to travel a lot for work.
"Some senior government officials who get the higher level subsidies don't need to travel and the subsidy becomes another kind of privilege," saidone civil servant in Hangzhou who didn't want to reveal his name.
But now the 58-year-old cycles to work on his daughter's old yellow bicycle.
"The bicycle is very light and it's convenient to ride," says He. "It takes me about one hour from home to the office by bike. If I have to be in a formal suit for important meetings, I will consider taking a taxi."
In China, government officials are usually provided with state-subsidized vehicles. However, from May this year, Hangzhou reformed the way it used government cars for 21 government departments. Under the new regulations, government officials below bureau director level or deputy minster level are not entitled to government cars. Government workers instead get transport subsidies.
Public concerns of corruption have been sparked over the newly revealed subsidy plans amid national government transport reforms.
To cut spending on government cars, reforms have been launched to reduce or even scrap government vehicles and extra subsidies are being offered to workers to cover their costs for business trips.
Unlike He, some civil servants have chosen to drive their own cars to work, driving through crowded traffic and experiencing difficulties in finding parking spaces just like everyone else.
Now in Hangzhou the first batch of more than 200 government cars from 21 government departments are in storage and most of them are waiting for public auction. Only a few will be taken to the government car fleet as "working cars." The Official Business Car Service Center will be set up soon to provide cars for necessary important official use.
"We are encouraging civil servants to take public transport or ride bicycles," says Fang Dongxiao from the Hangzhou Commission for Disciplinary Inspection.
The reform has first involved 21 official departments including the Environmental Protection Bureau and the Finance Bureau and Justice Bureau. By 2011, all official government departments in Hangzhou will have completed the revolution in government car usage.
Early last year, the reform in car usage started in some areas in Hangzhou, including Xihu and Xiaoshan districts. Data released from the Hangzhou Statistics Bureau shows that since the introduction of the new system, the expense of government car use in seven districts in Hangzhou, including Xihu, Yuhang and Xiaoshan, was cut by 38 percent.
According to forecasts by the Office of the Hangzhou Car Use Reform, expenses on government cars will be reduced by almost 50 percent, from 120 million yuan (US$17.56 million) to 60.99 million yuan annually if the reform expands citywide.
"The revolution may also push civil servants into buying cars, stimulating domestic demand," says Hong Hangyong, Party secretary of Xiaoshao District.
The government car use reform is not new in China, but it's seldom that examples like Hangzhou proceed in such an efficient way and cover such a wide range.
"Some official leaders in China used to link the power of the office closely with the work cars provided by the government. But it's totally wrong concept of privilege," says Yang Jianhua, a professor from the Hangzhou Academy of Social Sciences. "Government car use has become a symbol of power rather than an important business necessity. This reform will help to break the bureaucracy."
However, at the same time as cutting the number of official cars, the Hangzhou government started to give its civil servants a transport subsidy. The money is directly sent into their bank accounts and can be used to pay the cost of public transport or fuel. But the money cannot be taken out in cash.
The subsidies, at nine levels, range from 2,600 yuan a month for senior officials to 300 yuan for ordinary workers.
The public is not alone in querying the policy and the standards of the transport subsidy. Some civil servants have said that the hundreds of yuan subsidy offered is not enough, especially those who have to travel a lot for work.
"Some senior government officials who get the higher level subsidies don't need to travel and the subsidy becomes another kind of privilege," saidone civil servant in Hangzhou who didn't want to reveal his name.
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