Civil service salary reforms should take into account both fairness and efficiency, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpts:

As a key step in income distribution reform, the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security is preparing a new round of civil service salary reforms.

The civil service salary system is currently imperfect in many respects.

People who do the same work may have great differences in salary due to working in different areas and departments. A survey shows that civil servants' highest allowance may be four times the lowest allowance within the same province.

Moreover, an unsound assessment system undermines civil servants' working enthusiasm, because people with different performance may receive the same salary.

More senior civil servants may have abundant invisible benefits and allowances besides their salary, which also makes the public feel aggrieved about the civil service salary system.

All these unsatisfactory phenomena should be adjusted in the reform. The reform should pay more attention to standardizing the allowance system and improving the assessment system of civil servants.

In addition, civil servants' gray income should be cleaned up. Civil servants should be reminded that their salaries are paid by the taxpayer, so they should be more responsible in their work.