Performance, rather than job title, will be the deciding factor in deciding salaries for the 70,000 staffers in the city government institutions, according to new Shenzhen Personnel Bureau rules.

The new rules indicate that positions and performances will define salaries and benefits, said Chen Anren, director of the Shenzhen Personnel Bureau.

"All staff will have to compete for positions on an equal base regardless of their previous job titles," Chen explained, adding that there will be no difference between cadres and workers in government institutions any longer.

"The move is aimed at achieving better management and performance in government institutions where staff can be hired or fired, positions can be moved up and down and salaries can be raised or reduced," said Chen.

This is to solve the problems plaguing the current system in government institutions where staff members are promised permanent work, with no reductions of salary and no changes in their job titles unless they commit serious malfeasance.

The reform has involved 1,931 local government institutions staffed by 71 percent of the city's professionals and technicians.

(China Daily November 22, 2004)