29 March 2007: Government to Sack Slackers

The Chinese Government has decided to tighten up on government employees who earn salaries despite not doing any work.

The main target is employees who come to work but just sit around doing nothing, but in some cases people are still being paid despite having retired or have even died.

The new rules will also tighten up on the creation of unnecessary posts. "In some places a director has a dozen deputies," said a senior official.

The central government has urged people who know of any cases to report them to the authorities.