Xinhua Insight: Back to school for county officials to strengthen CPC ruling

Since ancient times, Chinese have used the word "sesame" to describe the insignificance of county level officials in the social hierarchy.

But Chinese President Xi Jinping described the role of county level Party chiefs as the "front-line commanders in chief" in his latest speech, saying counties are an important link for higher and lower levels of the Party and the government.

A program, organized by the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, was launched last November to train all county-level Party chiefs by the end of 2017. A total of 206 county Party chiefs joined the first session of the seminar and listened to Xi's speech.

Xu Rui, Party chief of Ruijin City in east China's Jiangxi Province, believed his participation in the seminar was an inspiring experience.

"The seminar has made a golden opportunity for me to leave the busy daily work to study and work on self-improvement," he said.

LOW LEVEL BUT HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY

Unlike in Japan and the United States, where counties play a larger role, they are considered very low in China, above only villages and townships in terms of administrative level.

China has more than 2,800 counties or county-level administrative regions. They play a key role in connecting the grassroots with the upper echelons of the state.

Yu Xin'an, head of the Henan provincial academy of social sciences, knows how complicated a county Party chief's job can be.

"Apart from foreign affairs, military and national defense, a county Party chief needs to attend to all aspects of the area," he said.

The Chinese President started his career as a Party chief in county government. The county where he worked, Zhengding in north China's Hebei Province, is less than 300 kilometers away from Beijing.

Xi Jinping said county-level governments have taken on more responsibility in reforms, promotion of the rule of law and the enforcement of strict Party discipline.

However, work as a county Party chief can be difficult.

"They face problems from grassroots, such as villages and communities, directly, but also have to consider the overall situation," said Dai Yanjun, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Some Party chiefs complained they spent too much time coordinating. "This is due to mounting pressure from the upper level," Dai said. "Local officials were hopping from one dinner table to another so as to 'welcome the inspectors from different departments', without enough time to study and delve into the problems from the grassroots."

HOPE AND CHALLENGE

Party chiefs attending the seminar pinned their hope on this ongoing program.

"We had classes both in the morning and the afternoon everyday. We even take elective classes in the evening," Xu Rui said, "what we studied covers a wide range of areas including politics, economics, culture, history and foreign affairs."

Besides taking classes, the Party chiefs have been also encouraged to organize group discussions and forums, according to Xu.

Through the study, he hopes to be find inspiration for his future carreer.

Ruijin, a county-level city, is one of the earliest centers of revolutionary activity for the Communist Party of China (CPC). However, it now ranks as one of the poorest places in the country, plagued by a lack of arable land.

"From a revolutionary base, I feel under pressure to inherit the legacy of the forerunners and close the gap between the city and the economically developed areas," said Xu Rui.

Yan Liang, the Party chief of Wengyuan County under Shaoguan City in Guangdong Province, is also looking forward to the seminar. "It is necessary for the county-level officials to get some training once in a while, since it can push us to think about the questions -- Who we are working for? What should we do? How can we do it well?"

Wengyuan county, covering some 2,174 square kilometers, is about two times the size of the New York City.

He said the most urgent task in front of him is to develop the local economy and improve people's livelihood, since the county, located in a mountainous area, has been lagging behind economically.

A grave problem the local government suffers from is a shortage of budget. "For example, we have raised the income of certain village officials during the past few years, while those whose income was left unchanged have shown dissatisfaction," he said.

"Another challenge is to deal with the relationship between economic development and social stability," he said.

The county has been building flood walls alongside the waterways as part of its water conservancy project. However, the construction was forced to stop halfway after villagers opposed land acquisition and house demolition plans required by the project, according to Yan. Endi