On July 16, the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area held a mobilization and deployment meeting for the reform of statutory institutions to outline the overall plan for the reform, marking the entry of the reform into its substantive implementation phase.As one of the five development zones in the New Area fully implementing statutory institutional reform, the Economic and Technological Development Zone is focusing on its primary responsibility of economic development and adhering to a corporate management approach. It is advancing reforms through the implementation of statutory authorizations, optimization of organizational structures and personnel, and reform of performance evaluation methods, thereby further strengthening its role as the “main force” and “field army” in economic development.
Restructuring Mechanisms and Systems to Fully Unleash Regional Vitality
“The Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area has entered a period of transformative development, where challenges and opportunities coexist. Whether we can turn challenges into opportunities and keep pace with the times depends crucially on our systems, mechanisms, philosophy, and working methods,”"Zheng Weiming, Party Secretary and Director of the Management Committee of the Tian jin Economic and Technological Development Zone, stated that after years of development, the zone had exhibited a pronounced tendency toward administrative bureaucracy, with the "spirit of a field army" and the "wolf-like tenacity" within the cadre ranks having weakened. Facing new circumstances and tasks, it is imperative to stimulate the zone’s intrinsic vitality, unleash the dynamism of its institutional mechanisms, and restore the zone to its original positioning as a "field army" from the time of its establishment.
Regarding institutional setup, the Development Zone has prioritized strengthening the Party’s leadership by establishing the Development Zone Party Committee. The Committee operates under a Standing Committee responsibility system, and Party institutions and teams have been fully staffed with capable personnel to ensure comprehensive coverage of the Party’s leadership across all sectors of the Development Zone.In accordance with the “Implementation Plan for the Reform of Statutory Institutions in the Economic Development Zone”—which was formulated through repeated research and deliberation by the Tianjin Economic Development Zone and formally approved by the New Area—the Economic Development Zone will also carry out a comprehensive and systematic reform of its statutory institutions. This will encompass implementing statutory authorizations, strengthening leadership selection and appointment, optimizing organizational structures and personnel, reforming evaluation methods, implementing performance-based compensation, transferring social functions, and reducing administrative burdens while delegating authority and empowering staff.
“The reform of statutory institutions aims to address the vitality of institutional mechanisms—ensuring that officials can be promoted or demoted, personnel can be hired or dismissed, and salaries can be raised or lowered. Our goal is to advance the reform of the Economic Development Zone by taking the reform of statutory institutions under corporate-style management as the leading direction, thereby further unleashing the vitality of the Economic Development Zone,” stated Zheng Weiming.
Focusing on Core Responsibilities and Main Business to Strengthen the Role of the “Main Force” and “Field Army”
Zheng Weiming noted that the primary objective of this statutory institution reform is to ground efforts in the core responsibilities of economic development, adhere to the direction of enterprise-style management, and further strengthen the Economic and Technological Development Zone’s role as the “main force” and “frontline force” in economic development. The goal is to build the zone into a leading demonstration area for high-quality development across the city and a model zone for innovation and upgrading among national economic and technological development zones.
According to reports, this statutory institutional reform focuses on core responsibilities and main business operations, comprehensively strengthening frontline capabilities.Guided by the principles of streamlining, efficiency, and a large-department structure , the number of administrative and public institutions in the Economic Development Zone has been reduced by 17. However, sufficient resources have been allocated to departments responsible for core economic development functions. The number of specialized investment promotion departments has doubled from 6 to 12, accounting for 34% of all internal departments, with personnel dedicated to investment promotion and enterprise services now comprising 85% of the total workforce. At the same time, the reform aims to restructure the internal workforce, encouraging young professionals and top talent to compete for positions in investment promotion departments and make their mark on the front lines.
“Previously, in the investment promotion process, it was common practice to adopt a comprehensive approach, with a single department handling multiple industries. Under the new circumstances, we must combine comprehensive and specialized investment promotion. Therefore, in establishing our investment promotion departments this time, we have primarily targeted strategic emerging industries, building on the development zone’s existing foundation and future direction. We have redefined specialized investment promotion areas and established dedicated bureaus such as the Electronic Information Industry Promotion Bureau, the Automotive Industry Promotion Bureau, and the New Energy and New Materials Industry Promotion Bureau,”Zheng Weiming explained.
Implementing Open Competitive Selection to Create a Platform for Merit-Based Development
It is understood that this reform will eliminate administrative tendencies, with the leadership of the Management Committee operating entirely under an appointment system. Through a global recruitment drive for Deputy Directors of the Economic Development Zone Management Committee, seven deputy directors were selected from the best candidates. The group includes outstanding talents recruited from other provinces and cities as well as excellent cadres cultivated within the Economic Development Zone itself. By selecting based solely on merit, the age structure of the entire leadership team has been further optimized, professional competence has been enhanced, and overall effectiveness has been strengthened.
Luo Ping, from Shenzhen, is one of the Deputy Directors of the Management Committee selected through this global recruitment drive. He previously worked for a long time at the Shenzhen Municipal Planning and Land Resources Commission, focusing on planning and land-related matters. Luo Ping views the Economic Development Zone as a grand stage that holds significant importance at the national strategic level. One of the positions available in this global recruitment drive was for the Planning and Construction role, which aligns perfectly with his professional background, ideals, aspirations, and personal commitment.“Given my long-term experience at the Planning and Land Resources Commission in planning, land management, real estate, smart cities, and construction and transportation, my personal background aligns very well with this position,” Luo Ping stated. He noted that Shenzhen’s experiences and lessons learned in urban development—particularly regarding underground space, smart cities, and urban planning and construction—can be applied to the Economic Development Zone, and that these accumulated insights will be invaluable in his future work.
In addition to the open recruitment for the Deputy Director of the Management Committee, the Economic Development Zone will also conduct a zone-wide competitive selection process . “The Development Zone previously had a total of over 1,000 administrative and public institution positions. Following the reform, all these positions will be abolished and replaced with a quota system; staff who were previously state-appointed officials will become contract-based employees of a statutory institution,” "Zheng Weiming stated that this reform establishes an open and flexible employment mechanism guided by market principles , abolishing the quota system and the tenure system in favor of a comprehensive appointment system with fixed terms. All staff members must stand for re-evaluation, compete for their positions, and sign standardized three-year contracts. The reform will also comprehensively strengthen performance evaluations, adhere to a value-oriented approach, and establish a position-based performance-wage distribution system grounded in job classification, centered on performance assessments, and guided by market principles. At the same time, an incentive mechanism for special contributions will be established to reward teams and individuals who have made outstanding contributions in investment promotion, enterprise services, and critical, difficult, or high-risk tasks, thereby stimulating internal motivation and innovative vitality.
Wang Anbo, Deputy Director of the Economic Development Zone’s Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, stated that by abolishing administrative and public institution status, breaking away from seniority-based promotion, adhering to the principles of merit-based and competency-based appointments, and implementing performance-based compensation, everyone’s motivation will naturally be mobilized. “We are very confident that we will form a team that is eager to work, capable of working, and certain to achieve results,” Wang Anbo said.
