Government integrity construction is the cornerstone level for optimizing the business environment | Fundamentals | Doing business

Author: Zhang Yuzheng

The construction of government integrity is an essential part of the construction of a rule of law government, and is a fundamental project for creating a market-oriented, rule of law, and internationalized first-class business environment. It has profound implications at the level of "meta governance". In recent years, Anhui, Shandong, Hebei and other regions have continuously promoted the implementation of special actions to fulfill public policies and fulfill government commitments, which is a vivid practice and beneficial exploration of this important governance method.

Honesty and trustworthiness are not only traditional virtues rooted in the land of China, but also the wisdom of ancient Chinese people in governing the country. In traditional classics, there are records and reflections on "sincerity" and "faith". For example, in the Guanzi, there is a brilliant theory that "integrity is the foundation of the world", and the Confucian classic "Analects" has talked about "faith" more than 30 times, such as "people without faith, do not know what is possible" and "a country with a thousand paths, respect and trust", which still sparkles with philosophical light today. In the eyes of the ancients, integrity was not only a moral law of interdependence among individuals in society, but also a key "knot" in maintaining social order and governance patterns. Shang Yang was in charge of Qin, and a tree was erected at the south gate, which established the credibility of the government and the support of people's hearts. On the contrary, there are also many profound historical lessons, such as the tragedy of the downfall caused by the drama of the feudal lords, which serves as an eternal warning of the consequences of dishonesty in government affairs.

"Government is not greater than trust, and governance is not greater than benevolence." The construction of government integrity is the cornerstone of the construction of the social credit system. As important subjects of social credit, the government and government officials play an irreplaceable foundational, demonstrative, and leading role in the construction of an honest society. The integrity of government affairs is related to the effectiveness of fulfilling social contracts between the government and the public, as well as the interests and emotional cognition of other social credit entities such as enterprises and individuals. In other words, the construction of government integrity has a significant demonstration effect of "meta governance". All types of government actors take the lead in speaking with integrity, emphasizing integrity and commitment, in order to win the trust of the people, win their recognition and support, and then drive and lead the development of a culture of integrity in the entire society.

Countless facts have proven that trust influences people's choices and actions. The government constantly changes its orders, and officials fail to keep their promises, making it impossible to establish a relatively solid mechanism of mutual trust with other social entities such as enterprises and individuals, let alone form stable long-term expectations, in order to reduce the cost of social interaction. In reality, entrepreneurs and investors often keep a distance from local governments with low integrity and reputation.

The market economy is an honest economy, and the government in the market economy should be an honest government. The construction of government integrity focuses on keeping promises and fulfilling every promise, which is reflected in various aspects of the government process such as fulfilling public policies, promoting transparent governance, improving service efficiency, implementing the principles of fairness and justice, and increasing government debt repayment efforts. We have seen that Anhui, Shanghai and other places are actively exploring the establishment and improvement of mechanisms for recording and holding accountable government dishonesty, increasing supervision, punishment, and exposure of dishonest and promiscuous behaviors, avoiding falling into the Tacitus trap, allowing power to operate under the sunshine, and allowing foreign investors to truly feel the atmosphere, pattern, and realm of a trustworthy government.

Without trust, people do not know what is possible; without trust, enterprises find it difficult to develop; without trust in society, people are at risk; without trust in the government, authority is not established. The world is currently experiencing unprecedented changes, and accelerating the construction of a new development pattern with domestic circulation as the main body and domestic and international dual circulation promoting each other is inseparable from the creation of a first-class international business environment, as well as the construction of a rule of law and a trustworthy government. Efforts should be made to address the government dishonesty behaviors in certain regions, such as constantly changing orders, new officials ignoring old accounts, and damaging fair market transactions, in order to better promote the optimization of the business environment and promote the development and growth of the private economy.

Guangming Daily

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