“The Governance of China” has sold 5.36 million copies, with 400,000 copies sold overseas. (Photo : Reuters)
A commentary published Thursday in Xinhua’s Outlook Weekly Magazine criticized Chinese government officials for not reading enough, and attributing this to their preference for vices and forming networks.
The article said that Guangdong anti-graft inspectors searched the house of Jiang Zunyu, a former Shenzhen official who was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) in April for corruption, and found his bookshelves filled with expensive cigarettes, alcohol, jade wares, paintings and calligraphy, and one book deemed "unsuitable for minors."
Jiang, the former secretary of Shenzhen's CPC committee of political and law affairs, was the center of an investigation in October the previous year for "serious violations of laws and regulations," according to state media. The investigation later revealed that his family had acquired around 42 properties and owned financial assets totaling over 200 million yuan ($32 million)
Jiang is typical of modern-day Communist Party officials, who showed little interest in reading, the commentary said.
In a 2014 survey conducted by the Central Party School in Beijing, 71 percent of Party officials said that their reading habits as "so-so," while 12 percent were rated as "poor" or "very poor." Only 17 percent had "good" or "very good ratings."
"Although [we] can't require every official to keep a book in hand all the time and work in a scholarly style, the phenomenon that some officials are not reading anything at all is abnormal," said Tan Fang, a public administration professor from South China Normal University in Guangzhou.
Hu Xianzhi, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said that officials often explain that they are too busy to read, but the actual reasons why they care little about reading is that they do not find it useful.
"From the experience of disgraced officials, they didn't lack the time to read, they were spending their time engaging in dishonest practices," he said.
Hu added that if the promotion of officials is not based on performance and real achievements, and based on links with factions instead, that will lead to officials to go after nepotism instead of studying in order to achieve higher positions.
Tan also noted that the lack of reading had led to an overall drop in quality in policymaking.
"Some local public policy documents show a lack of common sense in history, humanity, and are filled with shocking remarks. It is largely related to the fact that officials don't read and study enough," he said.
In April, the CPC publicity department recommended seven books for officials, including two on President Xi Jinping's philosophy on governing China and fighting corruption, and the biography of the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.
