More provinces needed: adviser
By Lydia Chen |
March 6, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A CHINESE political adviser suggested that China almost double the number of its provinces so that policies from the top can better reach the people.
The number of provinces should be increased to at least 50 to 60 from the current 32, which would help the country's urbanization process and see a huge jump in the number of cities, spurring economic growth, said Huang Shuyuan, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, in his proposal to the top political advisory body.
His idea aroused debates among online users who argued its pros and cons.
China now has 23 provinces, four municipalities and five autonomous regions, with Hong Kong and Macau as special administrative regions under the one country, two systems policy. All are directly supervised by the central government.
In China, the administrative hierarchy usually has six layers, from the central government at top, followed by provinces, cities, counties, townships and villages.
It is common that a provincial government will have more than 100 cities and counties under its governance.
Huang, also the head of China's People's Publishing House, said the proposed changes would mean dividing a current province into two, creating two provincial capitals and more major cities.
With more provincial capitals and major cities, economic development could radiate deeper to wider regions, boosting employment in remote areas left behind by the country's economic drive in past decades, Huang said.
The change could make government more efficient, Huang said.
He took Hainan Province as a case in point. The tropical region, once a part of Guangdong Province, would never have achieved GDP growth of 11.7 percent in 2009 if it hadn't been upgraded to a province in 1988.
But some critics worry that more provinces would mean more government organizations and officials -- and heavy burdens on government budgets.
Most of all, many are concerned it would provide more room for corruption.
China has a land area of about 9.6 million square kilometers, the third-largest country in the world, slightly bigger than the United States, which is divided into 50 states.
The number of provinces should be increased to at least 50 to 60 from the current 32, which would help the country's urbanization process and see a huge jump in the number of cities, spurring economic growth, said Huang Shuyuan, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, in his proposal to the top political advisory body.
His idea aroused debates among online users who argued its pros and cons.
China now has 23 provinces, four municipalities and five autonomous regions, with Hong Kong and Macau as special administrative regions under the one country, two systems policy. All are directly supervised by the central government.
In China, the administrative hierarchy usually has six layers, from the central government at top, followed by provinces, cities, counties, townships and villages.
It is common that a provincial government will have more than 100 cities and counties under its governance.
Huang, also the head of China's People's Publishing House, said the proposed changes would mean dividing a current province into two, creating two provincial capitals and more major cities.
With more provincial capitals and major cities, economic development could radiate deeper to wider regions, boosting employment in remote areas left behind by the country's economic drive in past decades, Huang said.
The change could make government more efficient, Huang said.
He took Hainan Province as a case in point. The tropical region, once a part of Guangdong Province, would never have achieved GDP growth of 11.7 percent in 2009 if it hadn't been upgraded to a province in 1988.
But some critics worry that more provinces would mean more government organizations and officials -- and heavy burdens on government budgets.
Most of all, many are concerned it would provide more room for corruption.
China has a land area of about 9.6 million square kilometers, the third-largest country in the world, slightly bigger than the United States, which is divided into 50 states.
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