More red tape, less progress: China’s cadres struggle to adopt ‘error tolerance’

State-linked media reports indicate that many Chinese cadres are struggling to implement directives aimed at reducing their workload and curbing formalism. Banyuetan, a magazine affiliated with Xinhua News Agency, highlighted five symptoms of this "busier-but-emptier" phenomenon in a recent report. Beijing has consistently called for easing the burden on local officials and addressing bureaucratic excess to improve governance and foster high-quality development. However, despite these efforts, cadres continue to work harder with fewer tangible results, suggesting a persistent challenge in translating policy into effective action within China's administrative system.