Authorities in Xi Jinping’s former power base to measure industrial productivity by the acre
Zhejiang province rolls out new assessment scheme in line with president’s push for a cleaner, more efficient growth model
Authorities in an east China province once governed by President Xi Jinping have rolled out a new system for measuring the productivity and efficiency of industrial firms against six criteria, including how much revenue they generate per acre of land they occupy.
The scheme, in the affluent coastal province of Zhejiang, was first tested more than a decade ago and extended to selected large-scale companies last year, the provincial government said in a document issued last week. It is expected to be rolled out across the province by 2020.
While the authorities gave few precise details of how the scheme actually works, its intentions are clearly in line with Xi’s broader goal to drive China’s economy forward in a cleaner, more efficient manner, rather than focusing solely on headline growth rates.
Companies will be measured on their output value and taxable revenue per unit of land they occupy, as well as their productivity, energy consumption, emissions, and research and development investment, the document said.
