Despite directives to reduce bureaucracy, many Chinese cadres face a cycle of increased work and fewer results, struggling to adopt 'error tolerance'. State-linked media highlight the 'busier-but-emptier' phenomenon.

Despite repeated directives to ease the burden on local officials and curb formalism, many of China’s cadres still find themselves trapped in a frustrating cycle of working harder yet achieving fewer tangible results, according to state-linked media. Banyuetan, an influential biweekly magazine affiliated with state news agency Xinhua, outlined five symptoms of this “busier-but-emptier” phenomenon in a report published on its website on Tuesday. Beijing has long called for easing the burden of...