Recently, a professor from a university in Hubei province wrote an article revealing various anomalies discovered during his research across China. These include local governments blindly investing, leading to massive debt; officials falsifying GDP figures and poverty alleviation data, as well as official crackdown actions that harm people’s livelihoods. For example, requirements such as neatly placing kitchen utensils, folding bedroom sheets neatly, not allowing ducks to swim in the river, chickens to walk outdoors, or farmers to stack firewood in their yards, with violators facing fines.
In a recent post on Observer’s website, Professor He Haibo from Hubei Second Normal University mentioned that in recent years, during his grassroots investigations across the country, he found that despite the busyness of grassroots cadres, the governance efficiency was not as expected. In May 2024, in a town called B in a western province, He Haibo saw abandoned vegetable greenhouses worth millions of RMB overrun by weeds.
For instance, in a town in a central province, a comprehensive enforcement sub-bureau was established with 7 staff, but only handled two or three cases throughout the year. Numerous similar examples exist.
He Haibo had briefly worked in a town in the mid-1990s and was required to report the town’s GDP value at the end of each year. The town party secretaries always emphasized this report. The finalized number often aligned with political needs but diverged greatly from objective reality.
In addition to the falsification of GDP values, the article also mentioned data falsification regarding impoverished households. For instance, the primary leaders in a western province did not truthfully report data on impoverished households.
The article highlighted the prevalence of distorted execution in grassroots investigations. In July 2024, in an eastern province, many official actions in environmental improvement exceeded the actual needs of the grassroots society. Instructions such as prohibiting ducks from swimming in the river, chickens from wandering outdoors, or farmers from stacking firewood in their yards were issued.
In July 2023, He Haibo’s investigation in City D in North China revealed that as part of environmental improvement, farmers were not allowed to park agricultural tricycles or place tools in front of their houses, or even have a small stool outside.
Furthermore, in recent years, China’s push for non-agriculturalization and non-farmlandization forced grassroots cadres to reclaim abandoned land in remote mountains, restore fish ponds, or even resume cultivation in peach orchards during the harvest season.
The article mentioned the internal complexity of grassroots governance, citing instances where farmers did not comply with official policies. For example, in rural environmental improvement, farmers were required to stack firewood in their yards according to urban standards. When farmers did not cooperate, rural funds were used to organize personnel to assist, but before long, disorder returned. Ineffective governance trends appeared in various aspects.
Additionally, the article highlighted the massive debt burden of local governments. In May 2024, during an investigation in the western town of B, a town official mentioned that due to excessive project investments in previous years, the town had accumulated significant debt, amounting to 40 million RMB. Many counties and townships nationwide are burdened with heavy debts, leading to financial difficulties and operational challenges in some areas.