CNBC AI News, July 25th – A recent commentary by tech blogger @Fenng has sparked a discussion about Zhejiang province’s initiative to curb excessive PowerPoint (PPT) usage in governmental affairs.
@Fenng argues that Zhejiang’s efforts to address the superficial and often unproductive use of PPT presentations should be emulated by other provinces. He contends that the time and energy expended on these often-meaningless exercises, both within government and commercial entities, represents a classic case of “internal involution” – a situation where increased effort yields diminishing returns.
He further criticized another similar phenomenon: the often-large and prominently displayed screens in public spaces offering little to no genuine informational value.
Adding insult to injury, @Fenng also pointed out the irony of investing significant resources into PPT creation, only to end up with poorly designed and visually unappealing presentations.
Zhang Jun, a Public Relations Director at Tencent, weighed in on the debate by reposting @Fenng’s comments and adding his own perspective.
He stated: “The core issue lies in the culture of excessive reporting. This trend needs to be stopped. Otherwise, if you ban PPTs, you’ll just shift the problem to Word documents, emails, or even elaborate creative writing.”
The discussion comes on the heels of a 2025 initiative in Zhejiang focused on eliminating “formalism on screens.” The provincial government has launched a comprehensive review of official PPT presentations and videos across all levels of the administration. The goal is to reduce the quantity, cost, and burden associated with these visual aids in official governmental affairs.
Reports indicate early successes. In 2024, Danghu subdistrict (including village communities) produced five PPT presentations and 11 videos, at a total cost of approximately 269,000 yuan. This represents a 70.37% reduction in the volume of PPTs and videos and a 72.96% decrease in associated expenses compared to the previous year. In 2025, the subdistrict has largely achieved its objective of avoiding PPT and video production unless absolutely necessary, signalling a potential shift toward more efficient and impactful communication strategies.
Original article, Author: Tobias. If you wish to reprint this article, please indicate the source:https://aicnbc.com/5602.html
