Chinese Premier Seeking More Efficient Government

Chairing his first Cabinet meeting as premier, Zhu Rongji discussed ways Sunday to make the government more efficient, state media reported.

The meeting demanded that Cabinet members “reduce official documents, meetings and the excessive routine activities of leading comrades,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Although neither Xinhua nor China Central Television quoted Zhu directly, the spirit of the directives is in keeping with Zhu’s reputation for being straightforward to the point of abrasive.

State media also reported that Zhu and his colleagues discussed the restructuring of the government bureaucracy but the reports did not provide details.