Many changes have been taking place in the Shenzhen government since its recent relocation to the Citizens' Center in Futian District.

The underground dining hall holds 2,500 people and is now open not only to public servants but also to all visitors having business at the center.

This is one of the direct consequences of the city's administrative reforms, which are now being implemented. All logistics establishments with various government agencies will be removed from city government control and placed in the marketplace.

The key point of this reform will concentrate on recstructing government agencies and readjusting city government functions.

While the total authorized size of the working staff unchanged, the total number of departments will be reduced from 45 to 35. Of these, 21 are composite agencies, 12 are directly affiliated agencies and one is a specially established agency.

After the restructuring, the government will have four major functions including macroeconomic regulation, market supervision, social management and public service.

The new administration system is also aimed at promoting government transparency, overcoming bureaucracy and building the rule of law in the administration.

"Different from previous reforms, this reform is by no means simply to scrap or merge some government departments and reshuffle public services," said Chen Anren.

"The core of the reform is to make a big leap forward in changing the city government's functions to public service and create a new mechanism for the city government operations," he said.

The Implementation Plan on Deepening the Shenzhen Municipal Administration System Reforms, which was recently passed by the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC and Shenzhen Municipal Government, proposes that a key plank of the reform is to open up decision-making to wider input from the public.

In future, the city government will consult more enterprises and residents in the city as much as possible before it implements any major policy.

A joint-meeting system made up by various government agencies will be improved to lift government efficiency in policy making and implementation.

A number of social supervisory committees including people from all walks of life will be set up to effectively scrutinize the city government.

The special role of public media in scrutinizing the city government will be also greatly promoted.

To meet the demands of a market economy for a more accountable, efficient and clean government, the government's functions of public services will be strengthened.

Introduction of market operations into government agency affairs will be also encouraged.

Some professional and technical affairs will be separated from the government body to be handled by particular trade associations or intermediary companies.

This round of reform will be mainly concentrated on 18 government agencies, which are required to readjust their functions, setup and authorized size of staff by the end of this month.

(Shenzhen Daily June 15, 2004)