Employees of public institutions, who want to start a private business, can have their positions reserved for three years. Universities and research institutions permit their employees to start private companies to turn their research achievements into business opportunities. Their labor contracts can remain valid for six years after they quit their job. During this three-to-six-year period, entrepreneurs are allowed to return to their original posts and receive their previous salary.

They also get a lump-sum compensation totaling the amount of their three-year basic salary.

Since its release on July 9, the regulation has received mixed feedback. Supporters believe the move will help civil servants realize their entrepreneurial dreams, while helping streamline government organizations and boost the local private sector.

Others maintain that this will lead to loopholes that will be used by corrupt officials and destroy market order by squeezing ordinary business personsí space for development.

Pro

Chen Wei

University student

Civil servants deserve job security and more career options. Many current civil servants are well-educated and hold master's or even doctorate degrees. If they are offered other career opportunities, they may achieve greater success. It is often the case that capable graduates working in civil service can't get promoted despite putting in years of hard work. These individuals are passed over for promotion not because they are incompetent or not dedicated to their jobs, but because of the mechanisms governing talent selection and flow. Allowing these civil servants to quit their jobs and start their own businesses provides an exciting chance for civil servants and is worth trying.

Civil servants are also workers and deserve to enjoy the rights that each worker possesses. Having more career options is an important part of every worker's right to freely choose their occupation, something that should be facilitated and protected by national law. Besides, after civil servants leave their jobs, they are just ordinary people. It is impossible for them to abuse the public resources or power that they had in their old job.

Encouraging civil servants to seek their fortunes in the business world will not only inject vitality into the private sector of the economy, but will also help streamline governmental organs by allowing talent to flow into the private sector. CA

Con

Yan Shenghua

Legal expert

I can understand that local governments intend to boost local economic development, and that they are launching this incentive to reinvigorate the sluggish economy. But I think the practice need deliberation.

The policy allows those civil servants to get compensation, which comes from taxpayers, if they leave governmental posts and start their own business. I think this impairs the fairness of competition that is vital to a market-oriented economy.

When it comes to boosting the private economy, what local governments should do is to provide better service and create a fair and sound business environment for private entrepreneurs. CA

Pro

Wu Shuling

Media commentator

Encouraging people in civil service jobs to seek entrepreneurial dreams is a wise move with many benefits.

First, it will allow people to break from Chinese people's long-held goal of seeking as high a rank as possible in the bureaucratic system. Generally, among those working in public service jobs, very few would risk quitting a stable job to start a business because government jobs are seen as an "iron rice bowl" in China, where a government job means guaranteed source of living. Allowing civil servants to leave and start a private business, while still keeping their labor contracts active, gives them a chance to make a change without worrying that they may lose everything if their entrepreneurial adventure ends in failure.

Second, the policy encourages the free flow of talent. And as some senior civil servants retire early, more posts will be available to junior employees looking to advance their careers and find a wider platform to display their talents.

Last, the move will help boost the private sector. With their social networks, civil servants have a higher chance of succeeding in the business world than other entrepreneurs.

Admittedly, there is a downside to allowing civil servants to start businesses. We can learn from foreign countries' experiences to better supervise the business engagement of civil servants and uphold fair competition and prevent them from using the policy to launder money or abuse administrative power to gain personal profits. CA

Pro

Chen Jiaqu

Civil servant

This policy is good for both ordinary citizens and the nation as a whole.

For us civil servants, allowing us to try running a private business offers us a chance to realize our entrepreneurial dreams. Doing so will also help change the public's negative impression of civil servants who are often seen as being arrogant and enjoying superior treatment.

For the nation, this practice will allow public institutions to cut expenditures and realize downsizing for better efficiency. With the well-educated civil servants joining the private sector, their professional and management experiences will help cultivate modern corporate governance in private enterprises, so as to promote local economic development in turn. CA

Con

Luo Xianhui

View.163.com

This regulation is said to help civil servants realize their entrepreneurial dreams, streamline government organization as well as boost the local private economy. It appears to be a plan that will kill several birds with one stone. But in reality, it will be difficult for this regulation to realize these goals for many reasons.

One problem is how to find a way to arouse civil servants' enthusiasm to start their own business. As stipulated by the regulation, only civil servants who have worked for 30 years or who are set to retire in less than five years and have worked for at least 20 years are allowed to retire early to start their own business. Those who meet the requirements may have flagging entrepreneurial enthusiasm and are likely no longer aggressive enough to cope with the risks of starting a business. Most of the civil servants in this pool will likely choose to remain in their current jobs and enjoy a stable life. At the same time, those with the enthusiasm and ability to start a promising business generally have bright career prospects in civil service as well. Why should they take a risk and abandon their current path for an unknown future? Therefore, it is likely that few, if any, civil servants will choose to take advantage of the regulation.

Another problem is how to guarantee fair competition if civil servants are allowed to start their own business. Civil servants have more social connections that make it difficult for ordinary people to compete with them. If civil servants are allowed to do business while enjoying this advantage, it is likely that they will collude with officials, destroying market order and making it difficult for ordinary business people to compete. CA

Con

Shen Youjun

Associate professor with Beijing Normal University

Once civil servants are allowed to quit their jobs to open businesses, they appear to return to ordinary citizen status, but they still have control of some public resources. When former civil servants use their resources and influence in running their business, this will hamper fair competition. Specifically, it is likely that they will crowd out other entrepreneurs by leveraging the familiarity with business regulations and social connections they gained while working as civil servants.

Also, this may offer corrupt officials an easy way to launder money. Some officials take bribes when they are in office. If they are allowed to start a business with their public employment contracts still in place, they would be able to launder their ill-gotten gains through their private business.

Encouraging civil servants to quit and start their own business while reserving their so-called "iron rice bowl" was a product in the initial stage of China's shift from a planned to a market-oriented economy. The policy was designed to boost the nation's economy. But as the market economy matures, the stimulating function of this move is fading. Thus, the policy should be repealed. CA