The Guangzhou municipal government is to introduce stricter measures to improve the efficiency of its officials and make them more aware of their responsibilities to the public.

Hong Sen, an official with the city's legal affairs office, said: "We are seeking the public's comments and suggestions on the regulations recently hammered out by the municipal personnel bureau and we will rectify them accordingly before submitting them to the municipal authorities for approval.

"It will not take very long to put them into effect." 

He said the new regulations will detail officials' specific duties as well as outlining the strict punishments that would be meted out to those who are the subject of regular complaints.

Hong said that under the new rules, officials would be required to deal with public inquiries swiftly and efficiently.

For example, if a member of the public is unsure of what documents he or she needs to complete for a particular purpose, officials must provide clear and concise information on what is required. This can be done orally or with the help of printed materials, he said.

If they are not directly responsible for handling a particular "procedure", they should direct the individual to the appropriate department or staff member, Hong said.

Under no circumstances should an official dismiss an individual's inquiry on the grounds that he or she has no knowledge of a particular area.

Hong said that officials who were complained about three times in a year would be switched to an alternative post or demoted. Those receiving six complaints or more, subject to them being substantiated, would be sacked.

Guangzhou residents yesterday told China Daily that they were optimistic about the new regulations.

Lin Haifeng, the boss of a small chemical firm, said: "This is definitely good news."

Lin said that in the past, the bureaucratic behavior of government officials had driven him to distraction.

"I once applied for a permit for my business. The first time I went, the official told me that I needed this document; the second time I went, he told me I needed that document," Lin said. "You can imagine how furious I was."

Ren Jiantao, a public administration professor at Sun Yat-sen University, said the new regulations were a good sign that the municipal government was making headway in its efforts to increase transparency and efficiency.

"The city government has made great efforts to improve transparency, efficiency and fairness, and to root out bureaucracy. I would say the Guangzhou government has been in a vanguard position in building a transparent and highly efficient government in China," Ren said.

"The new regulations will benefit the people and improve the government's image."

Editor: Yan