Hainan Cuts GDP’s Ties to Officials’ Performance, but Not Everywhere

China’s southern Hainan province plans to stop assessing the performance of officials based on gross domestic product (GDP) targets, but the new policy won’t be implemented everywhere on the island province.

The provincial government released revised guidelines for assessing the performance of local officials that de-emphasizes economic targets in favor of environmental protection goals. The revised guidelines, released Monday, stated that officials will no longer to be required to meet targets for GDP growth, industrial investment and fixed-asset investment — but only in 12 of the 19 cities and counties in the province.