Government and Policy
Vice-mayor keeps his feet on the ground
By Zhao Huanxin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-02 07:08
 |
Large Medium Small |
|
|
Ji Lin takes bus or subway like ordinary citizens when his car is not allowed on Beijing roads
Like many other Beijingers, Ji Lin takes the bus or subway, especially on days when his car is not allowed on roads under the capital's vehicle restriction scheme.
But he said he feels awkward sometimes.
| ||||
Ji, 47, is the executive vice-mayor of Beijing.
"They don't believe that I'd use public transport. In fact, Mayor Guo Jinlong and other municipal officials all use buses or the metro," Ji told China Daily in an exclusive interview.
A campaigner for more subway lines and bus lanes in Beijing, Ji often shares with others the benefits of public transport. Occasionally, he helps fix the "problems" spotted en route, like the rude attitudes of some subway attendants and the noise pollution from cars near some sections of the rail.
In China, it can be a phenomenon to have an official do something that a common person does, with chances that he or she will be "spotted" and singled out for the unusual behavior.
Last June, Ji also accompanied his daughter to the annual national college entrance exams. While waiting with hundreds of other parents at the school gate, Ji said he was a bit nervous the night before, though he encouraged his daughter to keep calm herself for her papers.
Netizens responded with thousands of comments after a reporter uploaded the news with a photo. Many acknowledged Ji as a responsible father, while others questioned if the report was an attempt at generating publicity.
Still, others outside Beijing said they believed all the more in the fairness of the capital's national college entrance examination, since even a vice-mayor had to do for his child what thousands of other ordinary parents did.
"I hope people can take such normal things for what they are," Ji said.
Ji also said it is normal to hear different voices on the Internet in this day and age.
As such, the municipal government has paid a lot of attention to opinions online and decided to enhance transparency by disclosing more information on the Web.
"We listen to what they have to say and more importantly, we'll better inform them by telling the people why and how we've made decisions, so that they'll know our government is a responsible one," he said.
Ji himself was a secretary of several committees of the Communist Youth League, a youth organization founded in 1922 under the Communist Party of China.
Compared with other youngsters, a young man working at the Youth League receives more education from the Party, he said.
Ji said his experiences as secretaries of the youth leagues at Renmin University of China and Beijing municipality have improved his innovation capabilities and honed his coordination skills, as well as made him adaptable to many different jobs.
"In the league, you don't have money or power; you can only rely on your diligence, creativity and ability to cooperate and network with others," he said.
Ji was promoted to Party chief of Beijing's Miyun county at the age of 36 in 1998, and elected as executive vice-mayor of Beijing in 2007.
With a master's degree in criminal law from the Renmin University of China and working experience as an associate professor at the university, Ji said his legal education has proved to be a lasting legacy for him. It has helped him form habits of abiding by the law and aiming for precision in work.
In that respect, the city has also highlighted legal education among its officials to prevent corruption.
It is implementing a system, similar to the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point in the food industry, in its departments and organizations to pinpoint and fix processes and areas most vulnerable to corruption, Ji said.
