City government ranks 1st in efficiency

Shenzhen is ranked first in administrative efficiency among local governments in China, according to a report released at the Ninth Management and Decision Making Efficiency Evaluation Seminar held in Beijing last week.

The ranking report conducted by Government Management Research Institute of Beijing Normal University and Management and Decision Making Evaluation Center of Jiangxi Normal University, took 2,797 samples covering almost all provincial-level, prefecture-level and county-level cities in China and evaluated them on business environment, actual performance in governance and other related indices.

Guangdong is ranked fourth among provinces, and Shenzhen is ranked first among cities in the 2019 ranking.

It is the ninth year the research institute has released the local government performance ranking.

The report shows that government performances vary greatly between the six regions in China, namely the East, Central South, Southwest, Northwest, North and Northeast. The efficiency of provincial governments in East China, prefecture-level cities in East China and Central South and county-level cities in East, Southwest and Northwest China are better than in the provinces, prefectures and counties in other areas.

Even within a region, performances vary across the three tiers, from high, medium and low, showing the difference between local governments in social and economic development, as well as administrative reform.

There is a positive correlation between government efficiency in different regions and the local social and economic development level. However, within a region, the correlation is not necessarily positive. The efficiency of impoverished counties and the local economic level is positively related.