BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's central authorities have demanded effective action to fight the practice of formalities for formalities' sake, while also reducing the burden on officials and workers at the primary level, according to a meeting on Friday.
Recognizing the results of efforts in this regard over the past years, the meeting called for more input in reversing the problem of overburdening primary-level officials and workers.
The competent authorities will mete out severe punishments to those causing serious consequences due to their superficial measures on pandemic response or production safety, the meeting stressed.
While highlighting the problem of unnecessary and repetitive meetings, paperwork and performance evaluations, the meeting asked localities to guard against and rectify newly-emerged practices of formalities for formalities' sake. Enditem
