Annual rural-policy ritual goes nowhere

The central government's policies on rural development are not being implemented effectively, say scholars.

Every October since 2004, officials and researchers have gathered behind closed doors at a Beijing hotel to start drafting a lengthy document for release during Lunar New Year.

Drawn up jointly by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council, the so-called No document - the first policy blueprint of the year - has tended to focus on rural development, to which the central government has attached great importance in recent years.

Scholars say, however, that these policy papers - lengthy, repetitious and published at a time when the country is busy celebrating - have not been properly implemented.

Peng Zhenhuai, head of the Local Government Research Institute at Peking University, said the documents were too diffuse for grass-roots cadres to explain them to farmers, especially when people are busy visiting relatives and friends during the Lunar New Year holiday. 'It is a document for farmers,' he said. 'It should be concise and easy to understand.'

The draft of the document is typically discussed at the annual Central Rural Work Conference in late December, then sent to local governments in early January. However, it is considered confidential and is only released by the official Xinhua news agency around the end of January.