The Role Of Chamber Of Commerce In Public Service Delivery

With the social requirements for public service tending more to diversification, personalization and complication, the service mode which is provided solely by government no longer adapts to the development requirements of social public service. Under such circumstances, it has become an essential approach to implement government decentralization which is to encourage and support the development of other public service institutions in addition to the government in order to cope with the issue of "limited government". This approach also acts as a solid basis for the development of chamber of commerce. In the market economy environment, the communication, coordination and interaction among government, market and enterprises require for a carrier which is capable of coordinating. While one the one hand, chamber of commerce will reconcile the interest relationships between different enterprise entities, acting as the spokesman for the market to express its demands and expectations for the government. On the other hand, it will also convey the purpose, entry points of considerations and suggestions in the government’s policy-making to the enterprises and the public, so as to further conciliate the issues and contradictions among government, enterprises and market as well as to promote their better interaction. With the deepening of reform and opening up, our country has taken the governmental reform target as "small-go vernment-in-a-large-society". As the third sector between public department and private department, chamber of commerce is intended to make efforts in social and economic development.Therefore, compared with government and market, chamber of commerce is playing an irreplaceable role in terms of remitting the social contradictions, integrating social resources and enhancing social cohesion. However, the process in which chamber of commerce is committed to public service delivery is not always smooth, historical background and current social status have raised new challenges to the chamber of commerce in China. In order to achieve the further transformation of the government and democratization of political participation, how to form efficient interactions among government, enterprises and chamber of commerce with all three parties’interests reasonably satisfied through the establishment of systems has become a crucial issue which can’t be ignored for the future development of chamber of commerce.Taking "market failure theory" and "government failure theory" as the theoretical basis, this paper has elaborated the concept and functions of chamber of commerce from the perspective of public service delivery. Meanwhile, with reference to the classic case of Quanzhou Chamber of Commerce, this paper has further carried out analysis on the current status, features of the chamber and its relationship with government and enterprises as well as the issues encountered. Furthermore through exploring and investigating the future development direction for chamber of commerce, it has come up with feasible suggestions and advices suitable to the development of chamber of commerce. At last, based on the existing part to cover the whole, this paper has further discussed the role definition of the chamber of commerce in public service delivery, its advantages and existing problems, and has purposed suggestions for the development going forward.