China unveils major cabinet reshuffle

The graphic shows new organs to be formed under the State Council, China's cabinet, according to a plan on institutional restructuring submitted to the first session of the 13th National People's Congress for deliberations on March 13, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Lu Zhe]

China has unveiled a major cabinet reshuffle, to make the government better-structured, more efficient, and service-oriented.

The institutional reform plan of the State Council was submitted to the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress for deliberation.

CRI's Yu Yang has the story.

There will be 26 ministries and commissions after the plan is passed.

Among the new entities are the ministries for natural resources, veterans affairs, and emergency management.

There will also be new administrations under the State Council, such as an international development cooperation agency, a state immigration administration, and a banking and insurance regulatory commission.

Compared with the current cabinet setup, the number of ministerial-level entities is reduced by eight and that of vice-ministerial-level entities by seven.

State Councilor Wang Yong briefed lawmakers on the plan.

"The reform focuses on institutional restructuring in key areas. The cabinet reshuffle deals with the institutional obstacles to make the market play a decisive role in resource allocation, and it will help the country build a modern economy with high quality growth. The reform would also strengthen the government's functions on economic management, market supervision, social management, public service, and ecological and environmental protection," said Wang.

A banking and insurance regulatory commission will be formed to replace the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Wang Yong says the move is aimed at solving existing problems such as unclear responsibilities, cross-regulation and absence of supervision.

If passed, the cabinet reshuffle will be the eighth such move in more than three decades.

Meantime, China's draft supervision law was submitted for its third reading at the national legislature Tuesday, aiming at a centralized, unified, authoritative and efficient supervisory network.

The new law is expected to serve as a fundamental and guiding law against corruption and for state supervision.

Chen Yixing, a national political advisor, says that making a state supervision law would be key to ensuring that China's reform of supervisory institutions can be conducted in accordance with law.

"The Draft Supervision Law has stipulated the nature, status, name, personnel of the national supervisory commission and the supervisory commissions at various levels, which provides an underlying foundation for these supervisory commissions to build organizational systems, perform duties and responsibilities, and improve self-supervision," said Chen.

According to the bill, new supervisory commissions will be established at the national, provincial, city and county levels.

Tasked to handle job-related crimes, they will independently exercise supervisory power, and not be subject to interference from the government, social organizations and individuals.