Chinese Communist Party officials who lie down on the job could find themselves publicly named and shamed as recipients of “Snail Awards” amid growing concern over “inaction” and “irresponsibility” among the country’s nearly 60 million-strong bureaucracy.
Disciplinary officials dealt with nearly 94,000 cases of “irresponsibility, inaction, arbitrary actions, and false actions in fulfilling duties,” the party disciplinary arm said in a report last month.
Offenses including inaction accounted for 87.5% of bureaucratic problems handled by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, it said.
Investigators “criticized, educated or otherwise dealt with” more than 44,000 infractions of discipline, accepting gifts, wining and dining, and distributing unauthorized government subsidies in December alone, according to a Jan. 26 announcement on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection website.
More than 300,000 people were punished for similar infractions of Chinese Communist Party discipline in the whole of 2024, the report said.
It called for a “combination punch of education and reminders, public disclosure, open and secret inspections, strict investigation and quick handling,” to force officials to straighten up and fly right.
‘Lying flat’
Officials who don’t step up and show enthusiasm in their roles could find themselves subjected to ironic “awards” ceremonies where they are labeled “snails” or “ostriches,” according to recent state media reports.
“They mouth empty slogans, pick the easiest tasks and avoid the tough ones, watch from the sidelines, and skirt around difficulties,” official party newspaper the People’s Daily said of officials who “lie flat” in an article in November 2024.
“In recent years, governments in many places have set up Snail Awards to punish officials who lie flat.”
“Lying flat,” also translated as “lying down,” is a buzzword similar to “quiet quitting,” and is used as a form of nonviolent resistance by unemployed young people and officials alike.
The trend concerns the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which has targeted online content linked to the idea and played down dire youth unemployment figures, insisting that young people get less picky about the jobs they will do and that officials show a more positive attitude.
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According to the People’s Daily article, officials who “lie flat” in China are guilty of “passing the buck, dragging their feet and muddling through.”
The problem is so prevalent that authorities in the southwestern province of Yunnan have launched a campaign against it, the report said.
Authorities in the southwestern province of Guizhou now hand out Snail Awards for “procrastination, perfunctory work, disregard for the interests of the people, and ineffectual problem-solving,” the report said.
The practice of making Snail Awards has spread across the country since it was first invented in the eastern province of Jiangsu in 2016, it said.
“Officials who lie flat may act cooperative on the surface, but in fact they are inefficient, which discourages other motivated people,” the paper said. “They have no desire for promotion or advancement, and no one can do anything with them.”
Protecting their power
Former senior party official Du Wen, now based in Europe, said the main reason for officials keeping a low profile is a political decision aimed at protecting themselves in the current climate under President Xi Jinping.
“Salary isn’t that important to officials,” Du said. “They care more about how much power they wield and their security.”
“Nobody is safe nowadays under Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaigns, which arrests all of the active and courageous officials, leaving only mediocre officials in power today,” he said. “They figure that lying flat is the safest option.”
He said the disciplinary crackdowns would have little impact on the phenomenon.
“The worst they can do to someone for lying flat is send them a written warning or demote them,” Du said. “Everyone is lying flat right now, and nothing has happened to them.”
Beijing-based political commentator Ji Feng said morale is also very low because cash-strapped local governments aren’t able to pay bonuses, or even wages in many cases.
“There are so many officials lying flat right now,” Ji said. “Their incomes have been reduced, and they’re unhappy about that.”
“Their superiors have noticed, so they want to make examples of them using humiliation, but it won’t work,” he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.