BEIJING, July 5 (UPI) -- From 1996 to 2003, as part of its efforts to build a clean and efficient government, China dismissed 19,373 civil servants, said the Ministry of Personnel.
Xinhua, China's main government-run news agency, reported Monday that the Provision on Resignation and Dismissal of Civil Servants, issued in 1995, dictated that civil servants who failed in two consecutive years of performance assessment, or who were found to be incompetent and refused to accept other job arrangements, should be dismissed.
Civil servants who have been absent from work for 15 consecutive days with or without justifiable reasons or who failed to perform their duty or abide by civil servant regulations are also subject to dismissal.
Previously, government officials enjoyed life-long employment if they committed no serious errors or crimes.
The supervision departments of China punished 3,798 civil servants and other staff for poor performance during the SARS crisis in 2003.
