China’s market-meddling cadres warned: no ‘inappropriate interference’ that affects economy
- Some struggling regional authorities have turned aggressive in seizing assets and assessing fines to make up for lost revenue, according to an education publication for Communist Party officials
- And provincial-level disciplinary authorities say some Chinese officials have ‘abused their power and interfered’ in business
An official message to Communist Party cadres across China serves as a warning in their mission to bolster business confidence amid a push by Beijing to revive economic growth following years of restrictive Covid controls and geopolitical challenges.
On the front page of the Study Times – an education journal of the Central Party School, widely read by officials at all levels to gauge which way the winds are blowing in Beijing – an article on Wednesday touched on how overstepping cadres could threaten sustainable, high-quality growth by not toeing the party line.
“Curbing the inappropriate interference of authorities in microeconomic activities has always been a key task in the reform of China’s economic system,” Cai Zhibing, an associate professor of the Economics Teaching and Research Department at the Central Party School, said in the article, citing dictates in the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group Work Plan (2023-27) released in September.
Such “interference” means those officials are not taking into consideration the requirements of “high-quality development”, as championed by the party’s Central Committee, Cai said, adding that some authorities are not “strict and civilised” when it comes to law enforcement.
And “one-size-fits-all” regulations and measures that have popped up across the country have “greatly” increased economic uncertainties, burdens and risks for businesses, Cai said, without pointing any fingers.
Cai blamed the pandemic, changes in global trade trends, and shifts in domestic-development focus for what he called an “imbalance” in local government finances, warning that this has subsequently incentivised regional authorities to turn more aggressive in seizing assets and assessing fines, seeking any means to raise revenue.