International   

China sets up super-ministries for key sectors

Beijing: China has announced the creation of five new “super-ministries” in a move to centralise power and reduce the turf wars between different government agencies that often limit the effectiveness of Central government policy.

The move comes at a time when the country is facing complex challenges including worsening pollution, galloping energy needs, a spate of scandals related to contaminated food and drugs, as well as spiralling inflation.

The administrative reshuffle that involves the merger of several Cabinet-level agencies is an attempt to address some of these challenges.

The super-ministries will be responsible for environment, industry and information, human resources and social security, housing and construction, and transport, according to a proposal put before the National People’s Congress, China’s Parliament, by State Councillor Hua Jianmin on Tuesday afternoon.

The new Environment Ministry will be formed by upgrading the status of the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), a body whose efficacy has thus far been hampered by lack of funding and adequate personnel.

Outranked by many other ministries whose priorities have been economic growth rather than environmental protection, the upgrading of SEPA is an attempt by the Centre to give its recent anti-pollution policies real bite. The new Ministry of Transport will combine the jobs of the bodies currently responsible for aviation, road and shipping.

The Ministry of Railways, which fought hard to retain its independent ministerial status, however, will not be included. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction is intended to address the issue of increasingly expensive housing, a matter of much public concern. In the run-up to this year’s NPC meet, there had been much speculation on the formation of a super-ministry for energy.

The plan presented to Parliament on Tuesday shied away from the creation an energy ministry, instead splitting planning and management, with an Energy Commission to develop national strategy and assess security issues and a separate, new Energy Bureau to administer the sector.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

China sets up super-ministries for key sectors
Zardari emerging as consensus candidate?
Karuna’s party wins majority in Batticaloa
Koirala to retire after CA poll
U.S. sued over endangered list
Spitzer says sorry for sex scandal
LTTE slams “State welcome” to military chief

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu