The problem of “formalism” (形式主义) in the Chinese bureaucracy is certainly in the mind of Xi Jinping. The July 30, 2024 Politburo meeting, the first meeting after the Third Plenum, discussed anti-formalism as well as the economic challenges, meaning that formalism is perceived to be as pressing an issue as China’s struggling economy. In the meeting, Xi called formalism a “serious disease” that “must be rectified.”
Xi blames local leaders’ “blindly pursuing promotion and lack of responsibility” as the root of formalism. However, interviews with local cadres suggest otherwise.
Documentation and Inspection Procedures
Local governments face numerous inspections from higher governments every year. During these inspections, the inspection teams from higher-level governments review files (台账) documenting each step of policy implementation. Typically, these files include documents, meeting records, and even photographs taken throughout the policy execution process. The goal of these files is to ensure that local governments have carried out their tasks in accordance with laws and regulations.
These inspections can have a significant impact on cadres. For example, if a township receives a poor grade from an inspection, all cadres within that township might face reduced bonuses. As a result, township leaders prioritize this issue for the following year, often canceling weekends and vacations to ensure that cadres work overtime to improve these areas.
Higher-level governments use inspections to monitor the policy implementation process. Before the introduction of inspections, upper-level governments were primarily concerned with the results delivered by township-level governments; superiors tolerated any methods used as long as the township government could meet the targets and complete the tasks. As a result, township governments often employed blunt methods to achieve these objectives, especially in areas such as land expropriation and demolition. Consequently, local governments frequently infringed upon citizens’ legitimate rights in order to reach their goals. Reflecting on this period, one local cadre described local governments as “nothing really different from gangs and mobs.”
In response, the government aimed to control the policy implementation process and reduce illegal practices. However, upper-level governments cannot monitor every policy implementation in real time. Therefore, the most effective way for them to oversee the process is through post-implementation inspections, assessing whether each step of the policy follows laws and regulations. Similar to how a math teacher requires students to show their work before arriving at the final answer, higher-level governments use inspections to force township governments to demonstrate each step of the policy implementation.
A document from a township in Nanning, Guangxi, revealed that the township government is responsible for 140 core tasks, including party building, economic development, social services, social stability, urban development, environmental protection, rural revitalization, tourism, and general policy. In addition, the township must implement 128 policies from county governments, expanding across 14 policy areas. All these responsibilities are subject to inspections by higher-level authorities, requiring the local government to prepare files for each one. Therefore, cadres find themselves trapped in an endless cycle of document preparation and inspection preparation, leaving little time for actual work.
For local officials, leaving traces becomes a form of protection against being scapegoated by higher-level governments. Upper-level governments often blame policy failures on implementation shortcomings at lower levels, and this is particularly challenging for township governments, as they are the lowest administrative level. By ensuring that each step of the implementation process is documented, and demonstrating that all necessary steps have been followed, township governments can protect themselves from blame for policy failure. Many cadres believe that their only responsibility is paperwork, and that the success of the policy has little to do with them. Hence, inspection preparation becomes the primary duties for local cadres.
What Is an Inspection Like?
According to a Central Committee document regulating government inspections, all inspections must adhere to the rule of “four nos and two directs” (四不两直). These are: “no prior documents, no prior notice, no meetings, and no courting during the inspection; go directly to the grassroots, and visit the inspection sites directly.” The goal of the “four nos and two directs” is to ensure that inspections are secretive and accurately reflect local realities.
However, in interviews several cadres commented that they have never seen a true “four nos and two directs” inspection. Most inspections provide prior notice to the local government being inspected. There are “secret inspections” (暗访); in theory, secret inspection teams do not visit local governments but instead go directly to the inspection sites. However, in practice, there are always “insiders” who leak information about the time and place of secret inspections. They even disclose the type of cars and license plates of the inspection teams. Armed with information from these insiders, township officials prepare for these secret inspections.
Preparing for inspections is a tremendous and daunting task for township officials. The preparation process often takes several days. Township officials gather as much information as possible about the inspection team from insiders, prepare all necessary materials, and conduct mock inspections to ensure everything is in order.
On inspection day, all township government officials must report to duty at least two hours before the inspection team arrives. Once on duty, they are not allowed to leave the township during the inspection period, which often takes several days.
The first step is to confirm the number of cars in the inspection team and record their license plates. Some officials are stationed at key entrances of the township, prepared to stop the inspection team’s vehicles. They greet the inspection team and accompany them throughout the inspection. Township officials can accompany secret inspection teams from the county or city; however, they are not allowed to accompany national inspection teams, such as those conducting poverty alleviation reviews. Instead, they track the inspection team’s vehicles and monitor their destinations. Once the locations are known, they report them to officials at the inspection site and instruct them to prepare for the inspection.
Most inspection teams can be intercepted. After interception, township officials will lead them to the local government offices. Meanwhile, another team of officials stays at the local government building, ensuring parking spaces are cleared for the inspection team and that no one obstructs their path while walking through the hallways.
Once the inspection team enters the government meeting room, local leaders present the township’s achievements and hand over relevant documents. These inspection materials can range from hundreds to even thousands of pages, detailing the policy areas being reviewed. The order in which the documents are presented is crucial. One cadre shared a tip online: to pass an inspection, the strongest documents should be placed at the front to make a positive impression on the inspection team. By the time they reach the weaker documents toward the back, the team is likely to be fatigued and less critical.
Preparing for this meeting involves attending to even the smallest details, such as providing both red and black pens as well as pencils for each inspection team member, and ensuring hot water is served to the team every 30 minutes.
After the meeting at the township government, the inspection team proceeds to local inspection sites, usually located in villages. A group of at-village officials (驻村干部) arrives the night before the inspection and must remain on duty until the inspection concludes. They are required to “live and dine at the village” (吃住在村) during this period and cannot leave the village without permission.
The primary responsibility of these at-village officials is to assist village committees in organizing their files. According to several officials, village cadres are often undereducated and thus struggle to prepare the documents up to the required standard. One township official listed several common mistakes made by village cadres, such as forgetting to stamp documents or incorrectly ordering them. As a result, township cadres have to correct these errors before the inspection. One township official expressed frustration, stating that village cadres always make mistakes whenever she isn’t directly supervising them. In some cases, at-village officials will prepare documents for village cadres; many of the at-village officials said that “making files for them is much easier than teaching and monitoring them.”
How Inspections Motivate Formalism
To cope with the relentless demands of document preparation, officials resort to fabrication – the ultimate form of “formalism” – to meet inspection requirements. One cadre described fabrication as “not a choice but a necessity.”
When a provincial government policy directive is issued in June, it often requires completion by October. But the city-level government – the first to receive the directive – typically takes weeks to “study the spirit of the document,” and then the county government undergoes a similar process. By the time the directive reaches the township government, it is already September. Additionally, the county government usually holds a meeting in mid-September to discuss how to implement the provincial directive. As a result, the township government is left with only a few weeks to complete what is supposed to be a months-long task.
Given this time constraint, fabricating documents to show progress at each step becomes an unavoidable practice. As long as they can provide the necessary files for each step, local officials can skip several steps in the actual implementation process.
How do the recent calls on anti-formalism affect local cadres? One local official joked:
Once we receive the central document on anti-formalism, we have a big study session on this topic. During the meeting, we make sure to leave traces such as taking pictures. Afterward, we must write up a report on the study session, so we can have a complete file for the upcoming anti-formalism inspection.
“Indeed,” the cadre concluded, “we are fighting formalism with formalism.”