There is still plenty of room to cut administrative expenses, says a commentary in Beijing News. An excerpt follows:

According to Beijing Daily, the municipal government of Beijing is to reduce daily expenses by 10 percent this year. Expenses, such as meeting expenses, hospitality expenses and overseas inspection costs, will be strictly controlled. Luxurious office buildings and training centers are forbidden. Meetings and paperwork will be further reduced.

This is an act that complies with the will of the people. While the supervision of the government budget by the People's Congress is not yet complete, it is necessary to make reducing administrative costs a criterion in assessing government efficiency.

During this year's session, Feng Pei'en, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, cited disturbing data: "From 1986 to 2005, per capita administrative costs shouldered by citizens became 23 times greater, while the growth of GDP was only 14.6 times greater." Feng also said, "Now there are millions of government vehicles, which cost over 200 billion yuan (US$25.64 billion) a year, while only one-third of the usage is for business." He criticized the high administrative costs for burdening public finance.

The biggest problems at present are weak budget restrictions and the existence of extra-budgetary funds. Budget lines are flexible, which easily leads to the waste of public money.

While reducing administrative costs, the government should increase input in the social security system, education, public health and housing.

Institutional reform is needed to compress administrative expenses in the long run. There is still an absence of public participation in decision-making on the allocation of public resources. The People's Congress at all levels should review government budgets.

(China Daily March 26, 2007)