Bloomberg reported that ever since Xi Jinping came to power, the criteria for bureaucrats to continue in office and for promotion has become tougher with social conduct being emphasised over competence. At least 20 provinces have adopted the criteria set out in a 2016 document. Briefly, these are (i) for Chinese bureaucrats, getting a promotion isn’t just tied to their performance on the job -- it’s increasingly about how well they behave in their leisure time. (ii) In March, the city of Quanzhou became the latest to start rating civil servants’ personal behaviour. (iii) Earlier Wenzhou had begun giving equal weightage for behavior at work and at home for promotions and other rewards.” (iv) The coastal city of Zhoushan also keeps files on the so-called social credit of public servants to assess them.

(Comment: This is likely to feed further resentment in the bureaucracy.)