Analysis on how to divest the business functions of public institutions

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On April 16, a reform document involving 40 million "business people", including retirees, was officially announced to the public by Xinhua News Agency, which means that my country's reform of the classification of public institutions has officially opened after 20 years of pilot and exploration. The opinions clarified the overall thinking framework and reform timetable for the classification reform of public institutions. Within five years, public institutions will divest themselves of administrative and production and operation functions, and their public welfare service functions will be further strengthened.

It is understood that this document titled "Guiding Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Reform of Public Institutions by Classification" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") was issued on March 1, 2011 , announced to the public for the first time by Xinhua News Agency on the 16th.

The opinion stated that public institutions are the main carriers of public welfare services in economic and social development and an important force in my country's socialist modernization drive. Statistics also show that there are 1.26 million public institutions in our country, with a total of more than 30 million formal employees. Those in education, health and agricultural technical services combined account for 3/4 of the total number. Among them, those in the education system are Reaching about half, there are another 9 million retirees, and the total number exceeds 40 million.

Therefore, this reform plan, which affects the interests of tens of millions of people, aroused strong attention from all walks of life once it was released. The opinions made an overall design for the reform of public institutions and clarified the general principles for promoting the reform, namely "separation of politics, separation of business and enterprise, and separation of management and operations". Its purpose is to "further enhance the vitality of public institutions and continuously satisfy the people and the economy." Social development demands public welfare services. ”

In view of the fact that the reform of public institutions is a long-term process, the opinion sets the overall target time to 2020. By then, a management system and operating mechanism with clear functions, perfect governance, efficient operation, and strong supervision will be established to form a public welfare service system with Chinese characteristics that prioritizes basic services, moderate supply levels, reasonable layout and structure, and fair and just services.

The next five years are what experts consider a "painful period", and the most difficult cleanup and classification issues must be completed within five years. The opinion is clear that within five years, the classification of public institutions will be completed on the basis of clean-up and standardization, and the reform of public institutions undertaking administrative functions and public institutions engaged in production and business activities will be basically completed. This means that public institutions with administrative functions and public institutions engaged in production and business activities, which account for about 20% of public institutions, will be divested from public institutions within 5 years. At the same time, the opinion is clear that the establishment of these two types of public institutions will no longer be approved in the future.

In addition, for the "main force" of public institutions engaged in public welfare services, significant progress must be made in the reform of personnel management, income distribution, social insurance, fiscal and taxation policies, and organizational establishment within 5 years. Major breakthroughs have been made in reforms such as separating and improving the governance structure, and the institutional environment for social forces to launch public welfare undertakings has been further optimized, laying a solid foundation for achieving the overall goal of the reform.

Overall interpretation

Peeling off the “two ends” and leaving public welfare

Wang Yukai, a professor at the National School of Administration, said that the overall idea of ??promoting the reform of public institutions by classification is still the same as before, but from this time Looking at the central government’s specific implementation measures for this idea, it highlights a leading concept, which is to strengthen the public welfare attributes of public institutions.

In Wang Yukai’s view, in fact, the reform of the classification of public institutions is to separate the administrative functions and production and operation functions currently undertaken by some public institutions. For those who bear administrative functions, they will gradually be The functions are classified as administrative agencies or converted into administrative agencies; those engaged in production and business activities will gradually be converted into enterprises.

These two parts account for 20% of the entire business unit. The remaining 80% of public institutions are engaged in public welfare services. For this part, we must continue to retain them in the sequence of public institutions and strengthen their public welfare attributes. They will also be the main providers of basic public services in the future.

There are three major problems in public institutions

Currently, our country is in a critical period of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, and the task of accelerating the development of social undertakings and meeting the people's needs for public welfare services is even more arduous.

Facing the new situation and new requirements, the development of social undertakings in our country is relatively lagging behind. The opinions clarified three major problems existing in public institutions:

The functions of some public institutions are unclear, and there is no separation between political affairs, business and enterprise, and the mechanism The total supply of public welfare services is insufficient, the supply method is single, the resource allocation is unreasonable, and the quality and efficiency are not high; the policies and measures to support public welfare services are not perfect enough, and supervision and management are weak.

These problems have affected the healthy development of public welfare undertakings and urgently need to be solved by promoting the reform of public institutions by classification. Wu Jiang, president of the China Academy of Personnel Sciences, previously said in an interview with this reporter that the most prominent problem at present is that public institutions do not provide the most perfect service products to taxpayers. "Therefore, the reform of public institutions must of course be reformed."

Classification steps

Step 1: Dissolution and merger

Specific measures: To deal with those who fail to comply with regulations If the specific tasks established or originally undertaken have been completed, they shall be cancelled. If the layout structure is unreasonable, the settings are too scattered, the work tasks are seriously insufficient, or the responsibilities are the same, they should be integrated.

Step 2: Classification

Specific measures: According to social functions, existing public institutions are divided into three categories: those that undertake administrative functions, engage in production and business activities, and engage in public welfare services. For those who undertake administrative functions, their administrative functions will gradually be assigned to administrative agencies or converted into administrative agencies; for those engaged in production and business activities, they will gradually be converted into enterprises; for those engaged in public welfare services, they will continue to be retained in the sequence of public institutions, Strengthen its public welfare attributes.

Step 3: Segmentation

Specific measures: According to the responsibilities and tasks, service objects and resource allocation methods, the public institutions engaged in public welfare services are divided into two categories: Basic public welfare services such as compulsory education, basic scientific research, public culture, public health and basic medical services at the grassroots level, if resources cannot or are not suitable for allocation by the market, are classified into the public welfare category; those responsible for higher education, non-profit Public welfare services such as medical care, where resources can be partially allocated by the market, are classified into the second category of public welfare.

The situation in Beijing

The clean-up work has basically been completed

There are about 10,000 public institutions in Beijing, with a staff of nearly 530,000, and there are also a certain number of Empty compilation. Beijing has already started the "first battle" to promote the reform of public institutions, freezing the total number of public institutions and the establishment of public institutions in Beijing, and prohibiting new ones. At the same time, it was proposed that during the reform of public institutions, it is strictly prohibited to promote cadres unexpectedly, assign cadres beyond the number of positions, and increase cadres' rank and salary in violation of regulations. During the period of clean-up and standardization of public institutions, no new public institutions will be added, and no new public institutions will be added. The cleanup work was basically completed in February 2012.

Reporter Observation

The ice-breaking of the reform of public institutions in 20 years

In 1992, the Fourteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed that in accordance with the different characteristics of institutions, enterprises and public institutions, gradually Establish and improve the personnel system for classified management.

To this day, the basic idea of ??recommending the reform of public institutions in this category has not changed. However, in the past 20 years, the practical process of this idea has indeed been stumbling, and it once encountered bottlenecks.

In fact, as early as 1991 when the enterprise pension insurance system was established, the pilot reform of the pension system in public institutions was also launched. "But 20 years later, it can be said that it has not started at all," said a professor at the National School of Administration Wang Yukai said.

Indeed, career reform did not begin until after 2000. The central government has successively clarified the direction of the reform of the personnel system of public institutions, as well as clarified relevant policies and regulations such as the employment system.

An official involved in formulating the reform plan admitted that classification reform itself is full of difficulties. Although judging from the nature of the units, it is not difficult to classify them. However, since all public institutions have close relationships with government administrative agencies, in order to balance and take into account the interests of all parties, it is extremely controversial to carry out fair and effective classifications.

After the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (2007), the pace of reform accelerated. Relevant system documents have been issued in terms of personnel systems and distribution systems of public institutions. The elderly care issue that has attracted much attention is regarded as a "deep water area" for the reform of public institutions.

As early as early 2008, the State Council issued the "Plan for Reform of the Pension Insurance System in Public Institutions" and determined to pilot the pension system and classification reform of public institutions in five provinces and cities: Shanxi, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Chongqing. However, this reform plan was opposed by practitioners in public institutions represented by faculty and staff. This is mainly reflected in the fact that due to the large differences in pension benefits caused by the reform design plan, a wave of early retirement has set off in public welfare institutions represented by university faculty and staff. Faced with all kinds of embarrassments, analysts generally believe that relevant departments and all parts of the country are still not ready for this arduous reform task.

Regarding these "preparations", Wu Jiang, president of the China Academy of Personnel Sciences of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, proposed that the overall idea is to put the construction of personnel management systems in public institutions first and realize the appointment system of public institutions, Performance pay and job management are used to promote reforms.

At the end of November 2011, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council released a draft of the "Regulations on Personnel Management of Public Institutions" for comments, which solved the above problems. It has made provisions on relevant system construction in terms of the implementation of the job employment system, performance appraisal, wages and benefits, and social insurance for employees in public institutions. For example, the regulations intend to clarify that new personnel in public institutions shall be recruited openly. When all the preparatory conditions are almost mature, this guidance that combines the top-level design and implementation plan for the reform of public institutions has been released, and is regarded by public opinion as a substantial icebreaker for the reform of public institutions. Therefore, the public has high hopes for its implementation.

Extended reading

There may be a wave of early retirement in public institutions

What are the contents of the "Guiding Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Reform of Public Institutions by Category" What deserves the most attention is whether it can accelerate the reform of public institutions that has always been "big thunder but little rain"? Will it create a sense of unfairness in society if employees of public institutions are included in the social insurance system, while civil servants still enjoy higher pensions?

In the past, due to lax control, many departments that should not be included in public institutions were included in the management of public institutions, which directly led to the large number and wide scope of public institutions.

? ——Wang Yukai, Professor of the Public Administration Teaching and Research Department of the National Academy of Administration

The basic direction of the reform of the pension system is that enterprises, institutions and agencies must form a unified system. Form a "dual-track system."

? ——Wang Xuejie, Director of the Public Administration Teaching and Research Department of the Hunan Provincial Party School Party School

“Civil servants cannot become a special interest group”

Reporter: The Central Committee has repeatedly It emphasizes promoting the reform of public institutions, but there has been little progress. What is the reason? Wang Yukai: Our country’s public institutions have been reformed for more than 10 years, but progress has been slow. The main reason is that there is no top-level design at the national level like the "Guiding Opinions".

For a long time, the reform of public institutions has involved multiple departments. For example, the reform of the personnel system is the responsibility of the organization and personnel departments, the reform of the social security system is the responsibility of the labor and security department, and the reform of the distribution system is led by the personnel department. Individual administrations have led to slow progress in reform. The "Guiding Opinions" issued by the central government is a strategic plan, and I believe that specific measures will be introduced in the future.

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Wang Xuejie: ??There has been little progress in the reform of public institutions. The main reason is that the interests of ordinary employees have been harmed during the reform process of some enterprises. This has left public institution personnel with lingering fears and fear of losing. A plethora of benefits, especially pension system reform.

Therefore, it is necessary to give clear explanations to the personnel of public institutions from a policy perspective. In particular, the reform of the pension system of government agencies and public institutions should be implemented simultaneously, so that people will not have a sense of unfairness. It is necessary to significantly increase the pensions of retired enterprise employees, especially the pensions of senior professional and technical personnel among enterprise retirees, so that they are commensurate with their contributions.

In addition, an occupational pension system should be established. Whether it is an enterprise, an institution or a government employee, the pension must be linked to the individual's contribution. I particularly emphasize here that national civil servants should be regarded as ordinary professions and cannot become a special interest group in the reform.

“A wave of early retirement may occur in some units”

Reporter: The “Guiding Opinions” clearly state that the reform of the social insurance system of public institutions should be promoted. Does this mean that all public institutions, including Will universities, hospitals, etc. all be included in the social insurance system?

Wang Yukai: That’s right. According to the overall requirement of "old methods for the elderly and new methods for the newcomers", it is estimated that some units will see a wave of early retirement in order to enjoy the retirement benefits of public institutions, and some units may even lose their technical backbones. But these are all problems in reform. I think resources can be reorganized through the market, and people can enjoy better education and medical resources in the future.

Wang Xuejie: ??I think universities (public), hospitals (public), etc. should be classified as public welfare institutions and should not be promoted to the market. Otherwise, the industrialization of education and the marketization of medical care will appear again, which will eventually make it difficult for ordinary people to go to school and see medical care. Education and hospitals will become a "paradise" for the rich, and society will become even more unfair. Public education and public medical care in any country are the responsibility of the government, and the government cannot push universities and hospitals to the market.

The basic direction of the reform of the pension system is that enterprises, institutions and agencies must form a unified system, and a "dual-track system" cannot be formed. At present, there is a trend in the civil service reform in EU countries that deserves attention, which is to emphasize that civil servants are not substantially different from any other profession, they are just employed by different entities.

Therefore, civil servants do not have tenure. They can be hired through public examinations like other professions, and they can move freely like other professions. Civil servants also enter the social insurance track when they retire. This is essentially a break from more than 100 years ago. The established principle of "life tenure" for civil servants. my country's Shenzhen City has implemented a trial employment system for civil servants, which also reflects the requirements of this reform.

"Classification" cannot repeat the mistake of lax control

Reporter: The reform of public institutions involves various aspects such as personnel systems, distribution systems, and social security systems. What do you think is the most difficult and most difficult aspect? Where is the urgent need for reform?

Wang Yukai: In fact, the most difficult thing about the reform of the classification of public institutions is "classification". In the past, due to lax control, many departments that should not be included in the management of public institutions were included in the management of public institutions, which directly led to the The unit volume is large and the area is wide, reaching more than 1.2 million units. It can be said that scientific classification and successful classification will affect the success or failure of this reform of public institutions.

Wang Xuejie: ??The most urgent thing should be the reform of the personnel system. At present, there is a phenomenon in our country that young people are trying their best to "squeeze" into government agencies and public institutions. The reason is that there are still "iron rice bowls" here. In the process of talent recruitment, various hidden operations are common.

This requires deepening the reform of the personnel system, promoting sunny recruitment and fair recruitment, and forming a fair employment system and environment. Only in this way can the reform and development of public institutions be effectively promoted. Otherwise, civil servants and public institutions may become places where powerful people arrange their children's relatives, forming the so-called "collective hereditary" phenomenon.

Reporter: The "Guiding Opinions" propose that in order to steadily promote the transformation of public institutions engaged in production and business activities into enterprises and restructuring, a transition period, generally 5 years, can be given. Does this mean that the market competitiveness of public institutions with a production and operation nature is inherently insufficient? How should they face the fierce competition in the future?

Wang Yukai: In the past, these units relied on policies and basically had no pressure from market competition, so their competitiveness must be compromised. For enterprises that have been transformed in this way, if they want to avoid being eliminated by the market, they can only establish market awareness, deepen internal reforms, and transform management mechanisms in accordance with the requirements of modern enterprise systems. In recent years, the restructuring of industries such as publishing and newspapers has achieved great success, and enterprise groups have been formed through the survival of the fittest in the market.

Wang Xuejie: ??It is an unswerving policy to transform public institutions with production and operation properties into enterprises. Originally, public institutions should be "public welfare". In foreign countries, they are generally called public departments, which are departments that provide public services to the society.