Recently, cities at the prefecture level in Jiangsu Province such as Huai’an, Wuxi, and Nantong have successively standardized the names of institutions within party and government organs. The internal institutions previously named “Department” have been adjusted to “Section,” and positions like “Department Head” and “Deputy Department Head” have been changed to “Section Chief” and “Deputy Section Chief.” Insiders within the system believe that this administrative naming adjustment exposes the expansion of official positions in local Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organs, deteriorating finances, and an unsustainable system of bureaucratic patronage.
According to a report from Shanghai’s official media Pengpai News on June 20, in recent times, several units in Jiangsu Province have adjusted the names of their internal institutions; those formerly designated as “Departments” have all been changed to “Sections.” Units such as the Commerce Bureau, Finance Bureau, and Ecology and Environment Bureau of Huai’an City, as well as the Transportation Bureau of Nantong City, have all made corresponding adjustments.
Mr. Wang from Wuxi, who is close to insiders within the system, revealed to reporters that this institutional reform, carried out under the banner of “eliminating officialdom and stretching out titles,” signals the dissatisfaction of the top leadership in Beijing towards the increasing sprawl of grassroots staffing. He said, “Over 80 million people nationwide rely on state funds for their livelihoods. With the current financial crisis, those receiving imperial favor from above can no longer be supported. In the past few years, calls for local downsizing and frugality fell on deaf ears, so now there’s direct pressure to demote and cut salaries. Department Heads are being reduced to Section Chiefs, and soon after, Section Chiefs may even become regular staff, essentially forcing job cuts.”
Mr. Wang mentioned that while Department Directors have not yet been demoted to Department Heads, this trend is already underway. He remarked, “First, they changed Department Heads to Section Chiefs. Depending on how the local areas arrange the Section Chiefs, the next step could be demoting Bureau Directors to Department Heads. This is also a way to psychologically intimidate and politically empower local officials.”
In accordance with reports from the media, the Commerce Bureau of Huai’an City issued a notice on June 17 regarding the standardization of internal institutions and the adjustment of some comrades’ job titles. According to the uniform standards, all internal institutions previously named “Department” have been adjusted to “Section” in the bureau. For instance, the former General Department is now called the Comprehensive Section, the former Finance Department is now the Finance Section, and the former Market System Construction and Distribution Industry Development Department is now the Market System Construction and Distribution Industry Development Section. The bureau also stated that due to the name changes of internal institutions, corresponding leadership positions will be regulated simultaneously, and the positions of the former Department Heads and Deputy Department Heads will naturally be dismissed without separate notifications.
On June 15, the Transportation Bureau of Nantong City also issued a notice of job grades and appointments, stating that in accordance with the instructions from the Nantong City Party Committee’s Organization Department, internal institutions within the bureau, previously named “Department,” have been uniformly adjusted to “Section.”
Mainland media has estimated that a typical prefecture-level city’s party and government organs have around 1,200 Department-level cadres, with approximately 150 to 200 being regular Department Heads and around 1,000 being Deputy Department Heads. When including city-level organs, counties, enterprises, and state-owned enterprises, the total number of Department-level cadres can reach 1,500 to 1,850. The number of Section-level cadres is even larger, totaling around 5,800 to 12,500 within the party and government system, and after incorporating enterprises, one prefecture-level city may have over 11,000 Section-level cadres.
Mainland Chinese netizens have voiced approval of the news of “Department to Section” changes in various locations in Jiangsu. Some netizens mocked, “Shrinking official hats” and “Department Heads becoming Section Chiefs,” while others commented, “It will be awkward to hand out business cards in the future.” Still, another netizen humorously said, “Shouldn’t sub-county level offices change ‘Section’ to ‘Shareholders’?” Active online personalities believe that these adjustments not only involve name changes but also touch upon the vast local bureaucratic hierarchy and fiscal support system, affecting officials’ sense of identity and resource allocation capabilities within the system.
A grassroots civil servant, Mr. Tian, told reporters that in departmental offices at the prefecture level, many so-called “Department Heads” do not actually hold ranks equivalent to real county department level cadres; they are simply in charge of institutions within the office. However, the title of “Department Head” has long given the impression of a higher rank and greater power. He stated, “In many places, appearances have been maintained based on these appellations. Externally, it appears prestigious, aiding in business promotion, meetings, and receptions. Now, with the change to Section Chief, it’s like stripping off that superficial layer. But often, those who have entered these positions through connections manage to climb into these roles, sometimes these positions are tailored specifically for certain individuals.”