Transparency matters

Kudos to Bazhou district in Bazhong, Sichuan province, for leading by example.

The district's authorities have decided to throw open to public scrutiny the accounts of its townships and sub-districts.

Local residents will also be briefed every month on government expenditure. This means, unlike their counterparts in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, residents will no longer have to navigate a bureaucratic maze to understand how their local government utilizes public funds.