Qingdao officials get graded on work performance

Qingdao city government in East China's Shandong province has been making great efforts to boost economic and social development and improve local citizens' livelihoods, according to officials-to-citizens reports in the coastal city.

Senior officials from 38 government departments appeared live on local television and radio, as well as portal websites over the weekend to present summaries of their performance over the past year.

A total of 10,000 selected residents were invited to review and grade their work reports, as well as submitting their comments and suggestions.

This is the 11th year that Qingdao has required officials to make public presentations on their achievements. Local officials said the annual event aims at increasing transparency and encouraging public scrutiny of the government's work.

Qingdao Mayor Meng Fanli said this year's event particularly implemented the spirit of the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, which was held in late October.

The plenary session reviewed and adopted the CPC Central Committee's decision on some major issues concerning how to uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance.

Meng said government departments should serve the people, be responsible for them and receive their supervision.

"The annual event in Qingdao has become an important platform to improve the government's performance and give citizens more chances to participate in the administration and discussion of the city's development," Meng added.

In July, the ninth meeting of the Communist Party of China's central committee for deepening overall reform officially approved a master plan on building a demonstration area for local economic and trade cooperation between China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The area is based in Jiaozhou, which forms part of Qingdao.

Lyu Peng, director of the city's Science and Technology Bureau, said to develop the area, his bureau has done a great deal to introduce leading innovation resources from Japan and Germany to build a technology transfer center.

"We plan to cultivate at least 15 listed high-tech enterprises in the coming three years", Lyv said.

Lyu also hoped that his presentation would let more citizens know the importance of science and technology, which could bring considerable profits to enterprises.

"Qingdao is home to tech giants such as Huawei and Alibaba," Lyv said, adding that his bureau would offer incentives to enterprises and encourage them to invest in innovation fields.

Jiang Bo, director of the Qingdao Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, said this year her bureau has introduced renowned artificial intelligence enterprises to reshape the city's high-end manufacturers and new engines to sustain the city's economic growth.

"It is a new challenge every year since residents and entrepreneurs have different expectations," Jiang said.

Before the public presentation over the weekend, organizers also collected comments and suggestions from residents through different channels, such as letters, websites and phone apps.

"We have received some 600 comments and suggestions from the residents. The concerning issues include transportation, environment protection and trash sorting," said Wang Qingchun, deputy director of the general office of the city's government.

"The comments and suggestions will be distributed to different government departments and we will try our best to provide satisfactory solutions," Wang added.