Fact Finding Mission to Germany: “Vertical Administrative Reform”, January 10th-22nd, 2010 | |
| 04-06-10 | |
 The Chinese government is currently putting a lot of effort into reforming its public administrative system. The goal is to establish a more efficient, more transparent and performance-oriented public administration. This fact finding mission, organized by the Economic & Structural Reform Programme (ESRP) of GTZ in China, enabled high-ranking officials of the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG; formerly China National School of Administration) to gain firsthand knowledge of the federal administrative structures and vertical administrative reform schemes in Germany. Chinese experts in public administration are considering extensive reforms of China´s five-leveled administrative system (central state, provinces, cities, counties, smaller cities and villages). Next to increasing efficiency on all administrative levels, especially the establishment of a municipal administration on the county level, which is independent from the dominating governing authorities of neighbouring big cities, is being discussed. The rationale behind these considerations is to provide and strengthen structures that ensure and foster the integrative development of rural areas and further reduce large interregional income gaps that became more and more apparent in recent years. Of course, restructuring of existing administrative systems involves more than the establishment of new institutional bodies. The legal and financial frameworks need to be adjusted or newly developed as well. In order to facilitate knowledge transfer and give an insight into Germany´s experience of administrative reforms, the delegation of this fact finding mission chose to visit German core institutions that deal with developing and implementing administrative reform programmes. The German University of Administrative Sciences in Speyer was the first one to visit. After a warm reception and welcoming remarks by Prof. Stefan Fisch, the director of the university, and Prof. Jan Ziekow, director of the German Research Institute for Public Administration, four university professors, among those Prof. Gisela Färber, an expert for Public Sector Economics and Public Finance, delivered lectures for the Chinese guests. The presentations held started off with introductions into the basic structures of the German federal system, pointed out recent developments within German administration and disclosed areas of the German system which are still in need for further improvement and reforms. The delegation tour continued with appointments in Mainz at the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viniculture. The visit allowed a focus on problems of lower administrative levels, learning more about the specific characteristics of one of the “Länder”, here Rhineland-Palatinate. In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) the visited institutions included the German Association of Cities in Cologne, the Federal Academy of Public Administration in Brühl and the Ministry of the Interior of NRW in Düsseldorf. One of the main topics of discussion was the guarantee of rights of the autonomous administration in municipalities, a distinctive feature of the German system. The last stop of this fact finding mission was the capital of Germany, Berlin. Here the German Federal Ministry of the Interior was on the agenda. A trip to the University of Potsdam and learning about “Sektoralkreise” which are counties that have a direct border with a metropolis offered additional valuable insights. Overall this delegation tour was perceived as a very successful one by the Chinese side, highlighting the relevance of information provided. The Chinese guests were eager to further learn in more detail about public administration in Germany. Their questions reflected a deep understanding for issues present within the German context and showed the ability to apply the learned material to the Chinese context, with necessary modifications. | |
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Economic and Structural Reform Programme
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