Chapter 5 How far is the third chapter "Training Center" from the sun?

When various "training centers" aimed at improving the quality of cadres and workers deviate from the basic goal of "training", they will easily become a breeding ground for various corruption phenomena. In recent years, party and government organizations all over the country have built "training centers". This is a good thing to focus on improving the quality of cadres and workers and building a learning society.However, the reporter's investigation found that some of the training centers have become luxury hotels integrating catering, accommodation, entertainment, leisure, training, etc., which has increasingly deviated from the original intention of "training".

The reporter's investigation found that some "training centers" have repeated construction, blind comparison, extravagance and waste, and some have even become places for leading cadres to "eat, drink and play" with public funds, breeding a lot of corruption and seriously affecting the image of the government. Arouse the great attention of relevant departments. "After a half-hour meeting every day, I go to the sauna, have a beauty treatment, sing, play bowling, etc., and each person spends 1,000 yuan per day." On August 10, 2006, Ms. Wang, who worked in a bureau in Beijing, told reporters, "The unit every year All employees are organized to go to their own 'training center' for training, which usually takes 2 to 3 days. Finally, each person is issued a shopping card."

In fact, these situations reported by Ms. Wang have already become an "open secret" in society.In Beijing, many party and government agencies have established "training centers", and quite a few of them are built in prime locations in scenic spots in the suburbs of Beijing. In May 2005, Zeng Guangyu, a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, put forward a proposal of "Suggestions on Regulating the Management of Training Bases of Various Committees, Offices and Bureaus in Beijing", which was replied by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision.At that time, the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision Bureau stated that it would clean up and standardize the existing "training centers".

According to the Beijing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, as of June 2004, there were a total of 54 training centers in Beijing that had accommodation, catering and entertainment functions, were independently set up and registered with the municipal editorial office, and 11 of them were financed by full financial appropriation. 47 units were established between 1986 and 2000, accounting for 87% of the total. This period was the peak period of establishment. From August 15th to 16th, 2006, the reporter called the relevant departments of the Beijing Supervision Bureau more than ten times to request interviews regarding the number of such "training centers" in Beijing and the situation of cleaning up and standardizing them. -"not sure".One of the staff said the question was "too sensitive" and would give the reporter a clear answer after asking the leader for instructions.But until August 21, 2006, the reporter did not get any response.

The reporter's investigation found that the construction of "training centers" by party and government organs is a common phenomenon throughout the country.The ministries and commissions of the central government, the departments and bureaus of various provinces and bureaus, the party and government agencies in many cities, and large state-owned enterprises are also building, and even some remote and poor counties have also built "training centers", some of which can be called luxurious. "Scenic spots all over the country, such as Beidaihe, Lushan, Huangshan, Huludao, etc., can see the 'training centers' built by various 'heavyweight' units and departments, some of which have deviated from the original intention of training." Peking University Government Professor Li Chengyan, the doctoral supervisor of the School of Management, expressed his concern in a short language, "As a result, the proliferation of 'luxury training centers' is inevitable."

It is not known how many "training centers" there are for party and government agencies across the country.However, judging from relevant media reports, the government hotels restructured in various places are not a small number, regardless of the number or amount. "The internal mechanisms of 'training centers' in various places generally fall into three categories: the first category is completely subsidized by the unit's finances; the second category is a part of the financial subsidy, and the company earns part of its external business; the third category is completely market-oriented operation and supports itself." According to Li Chengyan, "Among them, 'training centers' that are fully subsidized by the unit's finances account for a considerable proportion."

Some experts told reporters that the hotel is an industry with a very low rate of return.A three-star hotel needs about 100,000 yuan in operating costs per day.These so-called "training centers" are built to a high standard and cost a lot to run.Due to the mechanism and other reasons, it is almost impossible to make money, let alone return on investment. Generally speaking, the basic reasons for the establishment of "training centers" by party and government agencies are to train internal employees of the system, invest to earn money, and receive internal reception. The reporter learned that in recent years, the central government has attached great importance to the education and training of cadres.The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China recently issued the "Regulations on Cadre Education and Training Work (Trial Implementation)". According to the "Regulations", leading party and government cadres at the provincial, ministerial, bureau, and county levels should participate in training for at least 3 months every 5 years.The education and training of cadres is one of the important basis for the content of cadre assessment and the appointment and promotion of cadres.

At the same time, General Secretary Hu Jintao also gave important instructions on strengthening the education and training of cadres. He clearly pointed out that it is necessary to "connect with the actual path of innovation and strengthen training for practical results." During the interviews, many people also realized the importance of cadre training.However, they have doubts about the function of the "training center" as a place for training cadres.In many people's minds, the "training center" should of course be a place for learning and training, and the main facilities should be classrooms, reading rooms, and dormitories for faculty and students.

However, the reporter's investigation found that although some "training centers" do not have stars, they have star hotel-standard guest rooms and suites, international-standard swimming pools, and imported bowling alleys.In addition, various entertainment facilities such as sauna, beauty salon, and dance hall are also available. "Training cadres needs a place with learning functions, for example, it is more convenient for eating and sleeping." Mr. Zhou, a Beijing citizen, said, "The common people can understand this. However, 'training centers' built according to star standards continue to appear. , the common people can’t figure it out.”

"All year round, the unit organizes employees to come over to hold a year-end summary meeting. Usually, it mainly receives internally the upper and lower levels, or the leaders of the unit, large and small." The person in charge of a "training center" in Beijing revealed to reporters, "Some party and government agencies The leaders racked their brains to build a 'training center', not only for the convenience of training cadres, but also for the name of the unit to be hung up, which is a symbol of strength, not only to 'upgrade' the image of the unit, but also to add glory to the leadership. "

It is understood that many "training centers" in various places have placed some employees for employment, and also solved part of the welfare of government employees, and at the same time provided convenience for the reception of superior and inferior personnel and the development of training business.From this perspective, the "Training Center" once also played its historical function. However, the reporter’s investigation found that many "training centers" have gone against their original intentions, and have become places where they use convenient conditions to solicit relationships, trade money and power, entertain guests, eat, drink and have fun with public funds, and even set up "external accounts" and "small treasuries" to generate income in disguise. hidden places; some need financial or extra-budgetary subsidy every year, becoming a "bottomless pit" of deficit every year.Such a "bottomless pit" has become a black hole for some dignitaries to "seek power rent". "The training center should be synonymous with an educational place, a place aimed at cultivating and training skills." Associate Professor Yang Zhonghong from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology said, "Many social organizations now have facilities for training cadres. Training places The problem can be solved by market-oriented means. However, if each government department builds a 'training center' and becomes the department's 'exclusive property', it is difficult to avoid the problem of functional alienation of this training place." According to the reporter's investigation, the construction of illegal "training centers" not only wastes social resources, weakens government functions, and damages the ruling image of state organs, but also provides opportunities for a small number of corrupt elements to embezzle private shares and embezzle. convenience. First of all, it causes a waste of social resources.Since the facilities of the "Training Center" focus on "internal services", they are often in a semi-operating state, resulting in many facilities being idle for many years and the utilization rate is not high, which inevitably leads to a waste of public resources. It is understood that a large number of non-productive state-owned assets such as "training centers" are stranded in party and government agencies and public institutions.According to industry estimates, as of 2006, there were at least 10,000 party and government agencies at all levels and large state-owned enterprise training centers that had not yet entered the commercial hotel chain, of which more than 85% were in a state of loss or near loss. In some economically underdeveloped areas, training The loss rate of the center even exceeds 90%. Second, the functions of the government have been weakened.It is understood that most of the "training centers" are in charge of a department-level (or deputy-division-level) leader of the unit. Since income generation involves the vital interests of the unit, many leaders have to give up their jobs to generate income, which distracts energy and causes political problems. Regardless of enterprise. Third, undermining the fair market competition order.It is understood that some training centers are nominally used for internal reception and can enjoy relevant tax incentives, but in fact they operate like other hotels in the society. In addition, some "training centers" have basically monopolized various conferences and training projects within the government system due to their close relationship with government departments. This situation obviously has a serious impact on commercial hotels and is a typical example of unfair competition. Fourth, it has continued to encourage extravagance.Some "training centers" not only put operating income into the "small treasury" of the agency, but also illegally distribute bonuses and benefits to cadres and workers, and even pay some personal expenses, making the "training center" a leisurely place for some unit leaders to eat, drink and have fun. "Because the 'training center' is a piece of 'fat meat', the person in charge is basically the relative or cronies of the main leaders." An industry source revealed to the reporter, "Except for some employees' open social recruitment, many others are The three relatives and six relatives placed by the leader have extremely complicated internal relationships." Of course, among the large number of corruption cases that have been exposed in recent years, there are too many that use "training centers" as their carriers.Corrupt elements such as Zhang Erjiang and Hu Changqing have lived in the "training center" of party and government agencies for a long time, leading a corrupt life.The place where Chen Xitong and Wang Baosen "engaged in corruption" also had a "Training Center" sign. According to the disclosure of the National Audit Office in 2004, the audit found that an internal personnel meeting held by the State Power Corporation in 2000 actually squandered 3.04 million yuan in just 3 days, with an average cost of 24,000 yuan per person!Afterwards, in order to cover up the truth, the organizer of the conference also conducted "technical processing" of the conference fee through its subordinate "training center". Fifth, a large number of economic crimes.Due to various factors such as management and system, "training centers" are often unable to make ends meet and suffer serious losses. To maintain operations, they must continuously increase investment in the name of official consumption, and eventually become a black hole for criminals to devour public property. What is even more frightening is that some party and government agencies regard the "training center" as a channel for transferring funds and profits, and the leaders of individual units even regard infrastructure construction as a good opportunity for power rent-seeking.For example, Li Zhen, a huge corrupt man in Hebei Province, forcibly "contracted" six projects including the Chengde Training Center Project, Hengshui Training Center Project, and Shijiazhuang Training Center Project of the Provincial State Taxation Bureau to his friends, and accepted bribes of 3.05 million yuan from them with peace of mind; the former Shanxi Province Li Guifa, Director of the Training Center of the Tourism Administration, took advantage of his position to engage in embezzlement and bribery several times during his tenure, and illegally obtained nearly 500,000 yuan in property; Wang Maodi, the former director of the Training Center for Township Enterprises in Hubei Province, demanded kickbacks from a construction company for more than one year after taking office. RMB 10,000, was sentenced to 12 years in prison... As a form of micro-economy, "training centers" damage the entire social body with the interests of small groups. This not only attracts the attention of all walks of life, but also attracts the attention of the central leaders and some local governments. As early as January 29, 1997, Comrade Jiang Zemin pointed out sharply in his speech at the eighth plenary meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection: "Some so-called 'training centers', 'sanatoriums' and 'Beijing offices' have actually become Great place to eat and drink." The General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Notice on Continuing to Strictly Control the Construction of Office Buildings and Training Center Projects of Party and Government Organs" in 2003, reiterating and proposing to strictly control the construction of office buildings and training center projects of party and government organs Require. In recent years, some places have also set off a massive "clean-up storm" against "training centers"-in April 2005, Sichuan Province took the lead in implementing the unified management reform of state-owned assets of provincial-level agencies, including these state-owned assets Unified management, so that they bid farewell to the "private land"; in October 2003, the Nanjing Municipal Government decided to take back the hotels and training centers that were used as office buildings for government agencies, and the competent department closed them down; in August 2000, Guangdong Province directly The original 39 training centers of party and government agencies, except for the retention and establishment of 7 systematic training centers, all others will be cancelled... However, the reporter's investigation found that this kind of campaign-style "clearing up the storm" did not turn the "training center" into a pure land. water surface". "Because the system has not completely solved the problem, the trend of building 'training centers' is still spreading everywhere." Professor Li Mingwei of Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology told reporters, "The rectification involves the interests of all parties, especially many power departments, and its complicated background also creates The difficulty of the clean-up work itself.” "In Beijing, although the total amount has not increased compared with last year, the situation of regulating the existing 'training centers' is not optimistic." On August 11, 2006, Zeng Guangyu said in an interview with reporters, "The proposal has been answered so far, I haven't seen any concrete measures to standardize the existing 'training centers' from relevant departments." "Most of these 'training centers' belong to the competent party and government departments, and the background is too complicated, so there is great resistance to standardization." Li Chengyan pointed out, "The decoupling of party and government agencies from their 'training centers' involves the reform of public institutions, personnel placement, and asset disposal. and a series of thorny policy issues." "To solve the socialized dilemma of 'training centers', we can't just issue a few documents and regulations. The construction of the system level is the solution." Professor Mao Shoulong of the School of Administration and Management of Renmin University of China believes that many training centers The positioning of the mechanism is not clear, and it is inevitable that there will be many loopholes in management.If the 'training center' is to be cleaned up, in addition to revocation, transfer, and removal of its administrative affiliation and affiliation, it is also a transitional strategy to adopt necessary auctions, restructuring, and reorganization. "For the existing 'training centers', on the premise of not affecting the department's training tasks and streamlining the system, proceeding from the actual training work, except for a small amount that can be retained, generally they can be cancelled." Li Chengyan suggested, "Now so many units Trying to build a 'training center' is entirely driven by interests. Relevant laws and regulations should be issued to strictly prohibit party and government agencies from building, rebuilding, and expanding 'training centers', and pushing the existing 'training centers' built with state-owned assets to market, implement the separation of government and enterprises, participate in market competition, conduct market-oriented operations, or properly handle them through auctions, replacements, and transformations.” "'Training Center' is likely to become a place where corruption breeds, which has a lot to do with the opacity of government official consumption." Yang Zhonghong believes that "government official consumption should break the 'fixed-point' rule, implement market-oriented operations, and open bidding to the public. Increase the transparency of consumption and accept social supervision. The "fixed-point" consumption of government official reception activities is also a kind of monopoly, which is easy to breed corruption. To eliminate corruption in "training centers", then the pace of official consumption reform should also keep up." "Under the premise that party and government agencies are strictly prohibited from building and operating various 'training centers', it is necessary to further clean up and rectify existing 'training centers'." Du Liyuan, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongsheng Law Firm, believes that the government's decision to withdraw, "Training centers" used as offices for government agencies should be shut down by the competent authorities, and asset audit and evaluation, personnel transfer and resettlement, and creditor's rights and debts should be properly implemented in accordance with regulations.Office affairs management bureaus at all levels are responsible for acceptance and takeover.The "training center" transferred to the relevant state-owned assets authorized operating entities, the state-owned assets authorized operating entities shall be responsible for the restructuring work in accordance with the requirements of the government.For other "training centers" that are listed separately as government-owned enterprises or business-oriented public institutions are transformed into enterprises, the competent department is responsible for actively and steadily promoting the restructuring work to ensure the quality of the restructuring. In addition, Du Liyuan also suggested: "Disciplinary inspection and supervision agencies at all levels should supervise and inspect the situation related to the clean-up and rectification of 'training centers', and for party and government agencies that violate state regulations, the direct responsible persons and main leaders should be held accountable depending on the severity of the circumstances. Until the party discipline and government discipline are given."