Administrative Reform through Training: Background The rapid growth of China's economy over the past decade has put increasing performance pressure both on its public administration and on government officials, who have been compelled to acquire new skills in order to meet the complex challenges of the "four modernisations". This pressure further increased after 1993, when more than a fourth of all civil service jobs were eliminated.

In 1994, CSEND was mandated to implement a three-year programme to assist the People's Republic of China in modernising its central administration by improving management and training capabilities in government and public enterprises.

The Swiss government, via the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC), provided approximately 3.3 million Swiss francs of funding for this bilateral technical cooperation project, with a complementary contribution by the Chinese government. The Chinese counterpart organisation, the China Training Centre for Senior Personnel Management Officials (CTCSPMO), is one of the peak training institutions in China.