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The Legal Representative

Under the Supreme People’s Court’s rules on restricting high consumption, in the version issued in July 2015, restrictions on a company in debt extend to the people behind it, beginning with its fading daibiaoren, its legal representative.

Article 3 reads: “Where the person subject to enforcement is an entity, once consumption restrictions have been imposed, the entity and its legal representative, its principal responsible person, the persons directly responsible for the failure to pay and its actual controller may not engage in the conduct listed in the preceding paragraph.”

The First Responsible Person

Article 5 of China’s Work Safety Law reads: “The principal person in charge of a production or business unit is the first responsible person for work safety in that unit and is fully responsible for its work safety. The other persons in charge are responsible for work safety within the scope of their duties.”

The law was adopted in 2002. Its latest revision dates from June 10, 2021.

Responsibility of the First Person Asked

Chinese local governments have adopted a shouwen fuze zhi, a system of responsibility of the first person asked. The city of Ningguo defines it: when a member of the public comes to a service window, calls, writes or asks for help, “the first member of staff who receives or accepts the matter bears the responsibility for handling it, answering, passing it on or guiding the person.”

A 2017 Chongqing rule for investment approvals goes further. The first department to receive an application must handle and answer it according to law, or coordinate with the other departments, “and be responsible to the applicant to the end.”

Names on the Building

On August 25, 2014, China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued interim measures on the lifetime quality responsibility of the project heads of a building’s five responsible parties. After a building passes inspection, the developer must fix a permanent sign in a prominent place on it. The sign names the developer, the surveyor, the designer, the builder and the supervisor, and gives the name of each one’s project head.

These project heads are responsible for the quality of the building for its whole design life.

Three Guarantees Before the Door

Beijing’s rules on the menqian sanbao system, “three guarantees in front of the door,” took effect on April 1, 1999. Shops and work units are responsible for an assigned zone outside their premises: its cleanliness, its greenery and its order. For cleanliness, the unit must “keep the assigned area clean, sweep the ground, and remove spit, dirt, waste, standing water and snow.”

A 2026 Guangzhou rule sets three duties of its own for each frontage: a clean environment, a tidy appearance and good order.

Nine Dragons Manage the Water

九龙治水 Nine dragons manage the water. Said when many agencies share one task and none of them answers for it.

In 2014, water hyacinth spread over the Yangtze near Ezhou. The CPPCC Daily ran the headline: “Many departments pass the buck, and no one takes charge.” The article said: “The key is to solve the problem of ‘nine dragons managing the water’ and unclear responsibilities.”

Sayings on the Herd

害群之马 The horse that harms the herd. A person who harms the whole group. The image comes from the Zhuangzi: “How is governing the world different from herding horses? One only removes the horse that harms the others.”

一根绳上的蚂蚱 Grasshoppers tied to one string. People in the same situation, none of whom can shirk responsibility.

有福同享，有难同当 Share the blessings, share the hardships.

One Case, Two Investigations

In June 2014, the Party group of the Supreme People’s Court adopted a mechanism called yi an shuang cha, one case, two investigations. Where leaders let improper practices spread for a long time, or fail to stop, correct or report repeated serious corruption, “the responsibility of the person concerned is to be pursued, and the responsibility of the leaders concerned is also to be traced back and pursued.”

In January 2015, a commentary on the Party portal of People’s Daily called for keeping to the practice and pursuing the responsibility of the leaders as well.

The Birth That Cost the Unit Its Honors

Under the one-child policy, local governments applied a yi piao fojue, a one-vote veto, to family planning. Zhejiang’s measures of April 2007 applied it to any department or unit “in which a birth occurs that violates the laws and regulations on population and family planning.” A vetoed unit lost the right to compete for general honors and titles for that year and the next.

A 1998 article in the journal Population and Economics described a case from 1995. Wencheng town had concealed and falsely reported its figures, and the county vetoed the town’s whole family planning work. Village cadres who had under-reported lost the right to be considered for awards, and their year-end bonuses were deducted.

Good News for the Family

When a Chinese soldier wins a merit award, the army and the local government deliver a xibao, a letter of good news, to the soldier’s family. In January 2021, People’s Daily described one such delivery. “A delegation from the military and local departments carried banners, beat drums and gongs and set off firecrackers to bring the good news to Liu Menghai’s home. Neighbors formed waist-drum and yangge dance teams to come and congratulate.”

The same article describes the usual form: drums and gongs, banners, a sash and a large red flower for the soldier’s relatives, and a group photo.