A special edition of Kunming Daily that featured the office telephone numbers of the leaders of the Kunming municipal government - from its mayor and Party secretary to the heads of all departments - sold out immediately upon hitting the newsstand two weeks ago and then had to be reprinted to meet the demand.

A list of all the leaders' duties was also included to inform residents which department and which particular official they should call to settle problems.

The unexpected and enthusiastic response by local residents to the special edition - a first for this city in Yunnan province and probably the first ever nationwide - could be interpreted as a welcome gesture from the general public. It could also be taken to mean that residents are hungry for ways to communicate with government leaders.

Though many residents rushed to buy the paper out of simple curiosity, quite a number of them must plan on keeping the numbers in order to know exactly which people they should call when they encounter foot-dragging and cold shoulders when trying to get problems solved by government departments.

Whatever the situation, the calls have poured in over the past two weeks. The municipal government had to put in more phone lines at the offices of the mayor and Party secretary and issued new rules requiring all department leaders to keep their phones open during working hours and to keep records of all the calls received. The most recent rules stipulate that those leaders who deliberately refuse to receive calls from residents will be disciplined.

Behind the sensation is the message that informed, democratic governance has become an issue governments at different levels must take into consideration for effective administration.

From the local residents' enthusiastic response, we get another important message: That the ineptitude and inertia of some officials, who are supposed to function as go-betweens for the general public and government leaders, have become a stumbling block keeping some governments from effective and transparent administration.

This brings to mind the way government leaders in ancient times got to know the real conditions of residents' lives and how they felt about governance. It was called weifu sifang, or the practice of leaders disguising themselves as ordinary folks so that they can mingle with the public.

Clean and honest government leaders employed this method to see whether the reports they received from their officials were accurate and whether they were closed off from reality by inept and inert officials.

Of course, the ancient governing machine was no match for its modern counterpart in terms of efficiency and governing skills, given modern communication technology and highly developed media such as the Internet. But the fact that top leaders from various levels would often get things done more effectively and smoothly by personally stepping in speaks volumes about the ineptitude and laziness of some government officials.

The most well known example was the intervention by Premier Wen Jiabao when he recovered defaulted payments for a rural migrant worker in Chongqing in 2003. The premier's example stimulated governments at various levels to lend a helping hand to rural migrant workers in their efforts to claim payments in arrears.

The "mass line" has been advocated as an important part of the governing philosophy of the Communist Party of China. Following the mass line by repeatedly referring to the masses has been promoted as the most effective way to overcome bureaucracy and govern effectively.

The municipal government of Kunming's work may be interpreted as a way of following the mass line. The links established between leaders at various levels of this government and ordinary residents will certainly give them a much clearer picture of the real needs of local residents.

What I am most concerned about is whether the practice will finally wake up government officials and push them to perform their duties whole-heartedly. This should be the ultimate goal of such initiatives.

It would be difficult to imagine that department leaders at all levels, including the mayor and Party secretary, will be busy all day long answering phone calls from millions of the city's residents.

If that were the case, one would have to ask what thousands of government officials within the municipal government have been doing with their time. There would also be enough reason to question whether the municipal government were functioning in a normal and reasonable fashion.

These phones need not necessarily be engaged all the time if most government officials are willing to follow the mass line by going to the masses and earnestly listening to them speaking their minds and putting forward suggestions. They could then hand in substantial reports to their leaders.

In this sense, publicly releasing the phone numbers of government leaders at all levels could be considered part of the efforts to stimulate all government officials to greater efforts in performing their duties and finally establish an effective and transparent administration.

As the number of Internet users has grown to more than 200 million nationwide, it is hoped that the opinions of netizens and traditional media will increase pressure on governments at all levels to improve their efficiency and transparency.

Almost all governments now have official websites and some government officials and leaders are even writing blogs to speak their minds and communicate with netizens. Some even publish their e-mail addresses so people can contact them.

No one can say for sure whether other local governments will follow the example of Kunming's municipal government. Nor can anyone tell what will become of the practice in the years to come. But it is undoubtedly clear that administrative restructuring should be continued for a more efficient and transparent administration.

(China Daily February 26, 2008)