The poor and needy have benefited from the move because their minimum living standard allowance has been raised.

This is commendable because the government has given more care to the poor at a time when the economy still suffers from deflation and its finances are pinched by increased expenditure and slowing revenue growth.

But the soundness of the move should not blind us to the inconsistency of the decision-making process.

Early this year, Premier Zhu Rongji said the central government would continue to raise the salary level of public employees, which has increased four times in the 1997-2001 period. Minister of Finance Xiang Huaicheng reiterated that stance in May.

Now the moratorium on wages, although solidly based on economic reality, may hurt the credibility of the policymakers.

A consistent, established mechanism governing public servant-related affairs, including public employees' salary fluctuations, would be more convincing and abiding than official promises.

Under such a mechanism, the standards of public servant recruitment and retirement, professional training, performance appraisal, salary standards, and investigations into corruption should all be clearly outlined.

The salary of public servants, for example, should be pegged to the economic situation under such a mechanism. Their earnings should also match their performance.

And legislation should be drafted to manage government employees. A draft law in this respect is expected to come out next year. Hopefully the management of public servant affairs will become more standardized.

(China Daily December 26, 2002)