Construction Standards of Governmental Offices

On January 19th, the National Development and Reform Commission announced "Construction Standards for Governmental Offices", which includes regulations on specific office sizes for minister-level officials and county-level officials. The news aroused hot discussion. Let's look at what the media has to say.

A commentary in the "Modern Express" says that the number of large office building keeps increasing. It points out that although it is necessary to regulate officials' office space, the number of office buildings should also be controlled. For example, the paper thinks that the government should clarify how many and how large office buildings that are being built will be.

Another review in the "Modern Express" says that the government issued the same policy standards in 1999. However, the initial release of the policy hasn't had any real effect after so many years. The paper thinks that the Development and Reform Commission should not just copy and release the same policy, but improve it's shortcomings.

An article on the Xinhua website asserts that implementation is the only remaining step after a good standard has been provided. It says that although specific implementation measures have not been seen, it hopes that these standards can soon be put into practice and see violations punished.