Files Nailed

These days， Chinese graduates face more decisions than ever before small town or big city， home ownership or rental， government company or private enterprise. But for those who choose the private sector， one often expensive choice seems increasingly anachronistic： where to file one’s dang’an， a permanent official record of school and work performance.

A dang’an usually includes information about the subject’s educational background， employment record， qualifications， physical status and even appraisals from school and workplace supervisors.

Under current Chinese archive law， it is illegal to store one’s dang’an privately. The file must be kept in an authorized human resources center， at the citizen’s expense an increasingly unpopular system.

Controversies

According to a report published by the official Xinhua News Agency in August， the total fees collected for the management of personal files at human resources centers in more than 200 cities across the country hit several billion yuan in 2014.

Statistics from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security show that as of the end of June， 2014， 1.7 million personal files were stored in the human resources centers of municipal and district level authorities in the capital. A total of more than 100 million yuan （US$16m） in annual archive fees is collected by the Beijing municipal government alone.

Xiao Jun， a professor at Shenzhen University’s College of Management， believes it is unfair that that those with stable jobs in Stateowned enterprises and government agencies have their dang’an stored for free， whereas those with less job security have to pay for themselves.

“Personal file management fees are an aberration nowadays in China. It is a public service， but it looks more like a business monopolized by the government，” Xiao told Xinhua. “The ‘customer’ doesn’t even have the right to refuse.”

Shi Xingquan， a college graduate who has been working in Beijing for a private enterprise for eight years， told our reporter that he had paid nearly 2，000 yuan （US$326） in total to the local human resources center for keeping his files.

“Living in Beijing alone， not only do I need to rent an apartment， but also I have to rent a place for my dang’an to this day， I have never seen this file， nor do I know whether it will be of any use to me in the future，” he told our reporter.

Because of the expensive and lengthy procedure of storing and transferring personal files， a growing number of graduates are refusing to pay management fees， and are simply storing their files themselves， illegally.

According to incomplete statistics from the China National Center for Human Resources， a division of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China （MOHRSS）， the country has at least 600，000 “dead dang’an” files whose owners have refused to pay fees for more than five years. Many of these have been “dead” for a decade or more. Official data also show that in Beijing alone， the current number of dormant files is 61，334.

A report published by the Social Survey Center of the Beijing Youth Daily in September 2014 indicated that among the 2，069 recent graduates surveyed， 58 percent had met with difficulties when figuring out how to deal with their personal file after graduation. Of these， 26 percent did not even know what the file was for.

Jiang Linlin， an employee at the Siping Service Center for Human Resources in Jilin Province， told NewsChina that unless an individual foresees a specific reason to keep their file an ambition to work at a government agency， for example most simply do not bother to pay up.

“Nowadays， about one third of the personnel files stored in our center are dead，” she said. “We can do nothing but wait for the owners to reclaim them. If fees are not paid， their retirement funds are likely to be affected.”

Jiang added that currently in China all the fees collected for the storing personal files were delivered to the State treasury， but the operational costs of archive centers were covered in the national budget， which “falls short of the fees collected.” As of press time， no information on the usage of fees has been released.

In August 2014， Jiang Zhaojun， a lawyer from the Juntuo Law Firm in Shanghai， made a freedom of information application to the MOHRSS， the municipal governments of Beijing， Shanghai and Shenzhen， as well as the provincial government of Guangdong， to disclose the balance sheets for personal file fees for the period beginning from January 2011.

“The public records agencies are not non-profit organizations， and it is reasonable to charge for services like keeping and transferring files，” said Wang Jing， a professor at the School of Labor Economics attached to the Capital University of Economics and Business， during an interview with the Beijing Times.

“The focal point is that the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC）， as the agency in charge of price， should make public the balance of the revenue and expenditure [of public records fees] to allay public doubts. It is an obligation of the government， rather than a State secret.”

Prospects

China’s personal file system was modeled on that of the Soviet Union shortly after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949， mainly a tool to keep tabs on the work performance and “ideological growth” of individuals. Since files were only kept on people of note government cadres， government workers and college graduates， for example having one was something of a status symbol.

In 1987， China introduced its Archives Law， which was later amended in 1996. As China strengthened its shift towards a market economy， the significance of personal files reduced significantly， especially after 1997， when the State Council， China’s cabinet， introduced pensions and medical insurance for urban workers， unhooking retirement and social pensions from personal files.

However， until 2002， Chinese workers still needed to present their personal file when changing jobs， getting married or applying for a passport.

A relic of the planned economy era， China’s personal file system has often come in for criticism in recent years， and calls for reform are nothing new. In 2005， the Chinese Academy of Personnel Science published a China Talent Report， in which it stated that China’s personnel archives management lagged behind reform in other sectors， and that the management of archives should be more “scientific， systematic and standardized.”

In 2012， the NDRC and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued a circular to cut administration fees charged by the government， including personal file management fees from 240 yuan （US$39） to 120 yuan （US$20） per year starting from 2013， until they are totally abolished by the end of 2015， at which time public records fees will be financed by the government. The MOHRSS is also conducting research into setting up differentiated regional standards across the country.

In recent years， some local governments have launched programs to reform their management of personal files. In 2009， a locally-designated economic development area in Qingdao， Shandong Province， canceled the charge on personal file fees. Two years later， Shanghai and Jiangsu Province followed suit.

Zhao Chenggen， a professor at the School of Government at Peking University， said the canceling of the charge for the management of personal record files was just the beginning of systemic reform.

“In the information era， the collecting and management of personnel dossiers cannot be done solely by hand， and the digitization of files is the primary way forward，” he told Xinhua. “The goal of reform is for the system to serve more as a reference for personal credibility， rather than being mainly used in a political and administrative context.”

As early as 1995， the State Archives Administration began research into digitization. In 2010， during a national conference， the agency stated that setting up a digital database was “unavoidable，” and further indicated that some archives bureaus and human resources centers will be permitted to conduct pilot digitization projects. So far， digital personal file systems have been initiated in Beijing， Dalian in Liaoning Province and Chengdu in Sichuan Province.

Zhang Jizhe， a professor at the School of Information Resource Management at the Renmin University of China， believes that digital personal files will “never replace hard copies” since digital content is“not always reliable， and is more easily tampered with.”

“There is still a long way to go when considering the complicated procedures and the legal and security concerns inherent in setting up a digital files system，” he told the Beijing Evening News.