China’s local leadership gets younger with reshuffles

BEIJING—China’s local leaders have become younger with the finish of nationwide elections and reshuffles of legislatures, governments and political advisory bodies at the provincial level.
The Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said here on Thursday that 815 officials took posts in provincial-level legislatures, governments and political advisory bodies. The breakdown included 231 in legislatures, 270 in governments and 314 in political advisory bodies.
Their average age was 1.7 years younger than that of their predecessors. More officials, aged 45 to 50, were elected into local government leadership, the organization department revealed. Education wise, 261 of the officials held a bachelor’s degree or higher, accounting for 96.7 percent of those elected.
The number of local leadership posts was cut by three in each of the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions on the Chinese mainland. In addition, 174 more officials were removed from posts in the reshuffle than the previous time. According to the department, the reshuffle introduced a more democratic procedure. More than 47,000 candidates were subject to public scrutiny. Incumbent officials opposed by one-third of voters were not nominated.
China underwent a leadership reshuffle late last year and early this year as many officials had completed their five-year term. In late November, the department specially issued a circular, which warns officials against corruption in the reshuffle. The circular promised to seriously punish those found selling and buying government posts or offering bribes for higher positions in a bid to create “a clean and upright environment for elections”.
The department announced in December that a senior official in the northern Hebei provincial government, whose name was not made public, was dismissed for buying votes through “giving out presents, paying home visits to people concerned and inviting them to dinners”. In the same month, the department and the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) jointly publicized a list warning government officials against “10 taboos” during the reshuffle.
Practices such as lobbying officials for promotion, bribing officials to “buy” government jobs and outgoing officials’ involvement in promotions were strictly banned.—Xinhua