Beijing summons thousands of county-level officials to learn the art of ruling(2)

Fang Zhiyong said he was particularly impressed by the lessons on "informatization." The lesson, given by the bureau chief of the leading group on national informatization, roughly introduced the strategies and techniques to cleverly use the Internet in government affairs, as well as instruction on new media.

Teachers were Party school professors, high-level officials, foreign leaders, and scholars. One minister-level official would give one lesson every Friday. Students were not allowed to record the talk or take notes due to the confidentiality of the content, according to Fang.

Participants said the CPC aims at helping the county-level chiefs shape the overall thinking on the governance.

"We work at the grass-roots level, and are familiar with the grass-roots issues. However, we have weak points when it comes to the understanding of the nation's guidelines and policies on a macro level. Taking the courses can make up for the imperfections," Xu Mingze, Party secretary of Gongshu district, Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, said at the seminar.

Strict control discipline

The Party school adopted a closed management. County chiefs were required to live in the dormitories of the Party school.

They usually took half-day classes, from 8:30 to 11:30 am. Diversified seminars and lectures were held irregularly in the afternoon.

The Party school has a reputation for high standards of discipline. Students were required to sign in at each class.

As part of the anti-corruption endeavor, the Organization Department of the CPC emphasized the discipline of the officials and issued regulations in March 2013. County chiefs are not allowed to offer gifts or invite each other for meals during study.

The Organization Department dispatched a liaison officer to record the performances of the students. The Central Party School also arranged staff to supervise on the activities of the students. One of the tasks is to monitor compulsory usage of the canteen, since inviting officials to dine out is a common way for people to woo them. If county chiefs dine out, they have to report to the Organization Department or the Party branches for approval.

The chiefs were not allowed to ask for time off if was not an emergency. Anyone who took more than four days off cannot graduate from the Party school, according to Southern Weekly.

The process of getting time off was tedious. They were not allowed to leave without approval from the Party school. Despite so, some county chiefs had to ask for a leave for the sake of the public affairs. In some cases, they took days off to negotiate cooperation with district government official in Beijing.

Sometimes, they would take field trips to the economic zones and artistic zones as well as district government for on-spot lessons.

At night, students can take some optional classes, mostly history, music and traditional classics, according to their interests.

There were no tests or essay writing. But officials were asked to write 3,000-word summary and hand over for group discussion before the completion of the study.

Although the training classes had a very tight schedule, it was a good opportunity to learn about the nation's policies and improve capabilities by two-month closed-end study, Li Xiuzhen, Party secretary of Ouhai district, Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, said.

Talent pool

The main target was to unify their thinking with the CPC. "By training county-level officials, the CPC can establish a smooth communication channel between the central and local governments, to make sure the guidelines and policies of the central government can be fully implemented," Zhang Xixian, a professor with the Central Party School, told the Global Times.

"By explaining policies and giving them an overall picture of the development of the country, local county chiefs could better understand and implement the policies within their region."

The county chiefs, mostly around 40-50 years old, are the talent pool of the nation's leaders within the next decade, Zhang stressed.

Over 90 percent are educated with a Bachelor's degree. They also have familiarity of the grass-roots governing and rich experience at different posts, Zhang said.

"This makes it more important to broaden their vision and unify their thoughts with the central government," Zhang said.

The training class, as Zhang says, also served as a good platform for the central government to get hold of the real situation in the local government.

Suggestions the county chiefs contributed at the classes would be collected as "internal reference reports" and submitted to the central government, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

Participates said, it is also a good opportunity for the county chiefs to communicate and share useful opinions and resources. Diversified seminars, discussions and activities were held after class.

They hotly discussed issues including the social stability, the decentralization of state power, the economic development and the social conflicts, Fang said.

"I am concerned whether or not the central government can study on the reform with the devolution of central power, especially regional decentralization," said Fang Zhiyong. Anti-corruption was also a major issue. County Party secretaries possess a wide range of powers in their jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, the supervision on the counties from the central government is comparatively weak. If the power is abused, it can do great harm.

"We cannot solve the grass-roots problems merely with two months training, but the training definitely helped us to have a clear understanding of the overall picture," Fang said.