Guangdong provincial authorities will allow more social organizations to be established to encourage the public to become more involved in managing social affairs, a top government official said.
"We are building a new mode of social management, which will lead to more involvement by Party leadership and participation by the public," Zhu Xiaodan, the newly elected governor of Guangdong, told reporters on Friday at the annual session of the National People's Congress.
The change is part of social reforms that are being adopted by the provincial government, which has been overburdened by its attempts to manage social affairs in the past, Zhu said.
"After dealing with a series of social issues in recent years, we will concentrate on transferring these social-management responsibilities to authorized and qualified social organizations," Zhu said.
Zhu noted the protests that broke out in September in Wukan, a fishing village in the eastern part of Guangdong, in response to illegal land sales and other issues. He said an unsound system of social management, especially at the grassroots levels, has given rise to great difficulties in the province in recent years.
In early March, Wukan residents went to the polls to elect a new village committee. Many now say they think the change will lead to better governance in village affairs and better protection of their interests.
"Situations similar to what happened in Wukan will continue to arise if we do not change our existing social-management methods at the grassroots," said Zhu, also an NPC deputy.
Guangdong authorities have issued a provincial rule calling for the further fostering, development and management of social organizations. The rule will take effect on July 1, Zhu said.
It says that social organizations will no longer have to undergo examinations and receive approvals from various administrative departments before they can be registered at the local department of civil affairs.
The current rule requires social organizations to ask for approval from supervisory departments before they can be registered with such departments, making it more difficult to register.
The new rule will also allow more than one association or organization to be established in any given industry. Individuals will be allowed to set up social organizations pertaining to public welfare, charity and social service.
Shenzhen, a pioneer of reform and opening-up in Guangdong, became a leader in the country's attempts to reform social management after it allowed a group consisting of eight types of social organizations to directly apply for registration at the local civil affairs bureau without first being examined by a supervisory body.
Guangdong has set up a province-level social-work committee to push forward social management and reform, and all of the cities in the province have established branches of it, according to Zhu.
"Social reforms are as important as economic reforms," Zhu said. "As a governor, I think making social reforms will be a tougher job in the years ahead since it will involve dealing with many complicated issues."
As a result, the reforms will be concentrated on grassroots-level organizations, Zhu said.