LOCAL officials in China are dithering over project approvals and business deals, some to avoid the spotlight of an anti-corruption campaign, impeding the Central Government’s plans to use infrastructure spending to arrest slowing economic growth.
Although the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved 1.9 trillion yuan (US$300 billion) of investment projects in the first 10 months of 2015, the country’s top auditor estimates US$45 billion of projects are behind schedule, including a railway line in Yunnan delayed five years by official sloth.
China has stepped up inspection and auditing of big projects to curb graft since late 2012, when President Xi Jinping declared war on corruption, vowing to go after powerful “tigers” and lowly “flies.”
“Many people fear that the more they do, the more likely they will get into trouble,” said an official in Jiangxi Province, who requested anonymity.
“Local officials are not fully implementing the Central Government’s policy measures,” said the official.
Prosecutors investigated 4,040 civil servants at the county level or above in 2014, an average of 11 a day, parliament was told in March.
But keeping their heads down is also getting them into trouble. Domestic media reported in September that nearly 250 officials had been punished for failing to spend government funds, delaying projects or sitting on land earmarked for development.
Premier Li Keqiang has repeatedly scolded procrastinating officials for laziness.
In the first 10 months of the year, local reticence has contributed to a slowing of annual growth in fixed-asset investment to 10.2 percent, the weakest pace since 2000, despite the NDRC’s quickening of project approvals.
Low returns and the lack of legal protection have hampered the Central Government’s efforts to lure private investment into infrastructure projects, adding pressure on the government to spend more.
“It will be very difficult to stabilize economic growth without local support,” said a researcher with the NDRC.(SD-Agencies)
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