China massive restructuring to boost efficiency, fight corruption

China’s Communist Party Chief Xi Jinping reads as attendants serve tea at the Great Hall of the People during the third plenary session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, yesterday.  


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(Reuters) - China unveiled a government restructuring plan on Sunday, cutting cabinet-level entities by two and dissolving its powerful Railways Ministry, as the country's new leaders look to boost efficiency and combat corruption.

The reforms mark the biggest reduction in ministries since 1998 when then-premier Zhu Rongji oversaw the overhaul of the State Council, and coincides with growing public concern over transparency and overlapping bureaucracies.

The government will join the Family Planning Commission -- the agency that controls the controversial one-child policy -- with the Health Ministry, and strengthen the powers of the food and drug regulators, it said in a report released during the on-going annual meeting of parliament.

"Currently, numerous operational, organizational and division of labor problems exist in State Council ministries," State Council Secretary-General Ma Kai said in a speech on the plan to the National People's Congress.

Ma added that "breach of duty, using positions for personal gain and corruption" under the structure had not been effectively constrained.

China's president-in-waiting Xi Jinping and premier-designate Li Keqiang assume their new roles after the annual congress concludes next week.

The Railways Ministry and Family Planning Commission have been particularly unpopular, and their restructuring was widely expected.

The Railways Ministry has faced numerous problems over the past few years, including heavy debts from funding new high-speed lines, waste and fraud.

Railways planning will be coordinated under the broader transport ministry. The government has pledged to open the rail industry to private investment on an unprecedented scale.

Family planning officials, meanwhile, have been known to compel women to have abortions to meet birth-rate targets. High profile cases have sparked national fury, such as when a woman in inland Shaanxi province was forced to abort her 7-month pregnancy last year.

Some analysts have said the merger of the health and family planning agencies would be a blow to the political base needed to maintain the one-child policy, which many demographers say should be relaxed.

The report said family planning must continue "on the basis of stable and low birth rates", but added that policies would be "improved". China's one-child policy is still generally enforced, although there are a number of family situations exempt from the rule.

A recently retired official from the Family Planning Commission who maintains close ties with the agency, said the merger does not mean the commission's power will be reduced.

"For such a long time, hundreds of millions of people had to have contraception and birth control, this kind of work is necessary. But it's possible that there will be fewer things done by force," the retired official said.

SUPER MINISTRIES

The restructuring plan, which will cut cabinet-level agencies to 25, will also boost the role of the food and drug regulators, placing it within the cabinet in response to an almost never-ending series of scandals over product safety.

Prosecutions for producing or selling fake drugs or toxic food jumped to more than 8,000 in 2012, more than five times the number in 2011, according to a report by the office of China's top prosecutor also issued on Sunday.

China's maritime enforcement agencies will be consolidated, as well, giving the National Oceanic Administration control over coast guard forces, customs police and fisheries enforcement as China faces growing tensions with Japan and South East Asian neighbors over disputed seas.

The move will bring China's maritime law enforcement forces, currently scattered among different ministries, under the unified management of a single administration, according to a report delivered by State Councilor Ma Kai at the annual parliamentary session on Sunday.

The new agency will still be named the National Oceanic Administration (NOA). It will have under its control the coast guard forces of the Public Security Ministry, the fisheries law enforcement command of the Agriculture Ministry and the maritime anti-smuggling police of the General Administration of Customs, Ma said in his report about the plan on the institutional restructuring and functional transformation of the State Council, China's cabinet.

The NOA currently has only one maritime law enforcement department, China Marine Surveillance.

The proposed administration, administered by the Ministry of Land and Resources, will carry out law enforcement activities in the name of China's maritime police bureau and under the operational direction of the Ministry of Public Security, said Ma, who is also the secretary-general of the State Council.

In addition to law enforcement, other functions of the new administration include outlining the oceanic development plan, supervising and managing the use of sea waters, and protecting ocean ecology, Ma said.

A high-level consultative and coordinating body, the National Oceanic Commission, will also be set up to formulate oceanic development strategies and coordinate important oceanic affairs, Ma said.

One parliament delegate said on the sidelines of the congress session that the move was not linked to the military.

"Our coastline is very long and our oceans cover a vast area. There is no military thinking behind it," said Zhang Guibai.

China will also merge its two media watchdogs -- the General Administration of Press and Publication and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television -- and restructure the National Energy Administration, Ma said.

The move is meant to coordinate the resources of each sector and promote the reform of cultural institutions, Ma said in his report on the plan for the institutional reform and functional transformation of the State Council, China's cabinet.

The new administration will be responsible for promoting the development of these sectors and supervising related agencies and their businesses, said Ma, who is also secretary-general of the State Council.

The merger will be conducive to establishing a modern communication system, which is rapidly shaped by digital information technology, and boosting the country's cultural influence, said a statement from the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform, which explains the reason of the institutional reform

Sources: Reuters - Reporting by Michael Martina, Shen Yan, Sui-Lee Wee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jonathan Standing and Michael Perry; CCTV, Xinhua

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China all out to rejuvenate the nation

A great nation in the course of development and 5,000 years of its civilisation, the Chinese nation has made an indelible contribution to human civilisation and progress



WHEN Xi Jinping and his new Chinese Communist Party (CCP) top brass line-up were introduced to the media last November, the party general-secretary set the tone for a majestic dream that the whole nation will pursue in the next decade.

The dream is to unify China and Taiwan. The grand mission is bring China back to its glorious past during the ancient times.

Its goal is to become a moderately prosperous society by 2020. All in all, this is what the Chinese call the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

“Our nation is a great nation. In the course of development and 5,000 years of its civilisation, the Chinese nation has made an indelible contribution to human civilisation and progress,” Xi said.

“Since then, in order to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, numerous people with lofty ideals had launched protests but once again they failed to do so. After the founding of the CCP, we got the people united and transformed a poor and backward China into a prosperous new China. We can now see the unprecedented bright prospect of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Xi then promised to work hard and lead the people to their revival.

In his final address at Tuesday’s meeting of the National People’s Congress as Chinese Premier after 10 years of service, the outgoing Wen Jiabao again stressed the party’s resolve in seeing the reunification of China one day.

“We should adhere to the central government’s major policies on Tai­­­­wan, fully implement the important ideas of peaceful development and deepen the cross-strait relations through politics, economy and culture.

“We should make concerted effort to complete the reunification process of our motherland,” he said.

According to Zhang Ping, who is the chairman of the National Deve­­­lopment and Reform Commission, which approves major projects and strategies policies to maintain the country’s economic vitality, a strong and sound economy will continue to be one of the main forces to rejuvenate the nation.

He said in the past five years, China experienced a fast yet stable economic growth of 9.3% on average and its GDP grew from over 30 trillion yuan (RM14.98tril) in 2008 to 50 trillion yuan (RM24.98tril) last year.

The rural residents’ income increased by 9.9% while that of urbanites rose 8.8%. Compared with other developed or developing nations, such a growth rate was considered one of the fastest, he added.

“I would not want to say that ‘only the landscape over here is good’ but we have indeed achieved great results. While maintaining a stable yet progressive growth, our economic structure especially domestic demand has further improved.

“Boosting domestic demand is the most effective measure that we had taken to win the war against the global financial crisis and respond to external crisis,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Zhang said, in a way, the measure had offset the negative growth of external demand for Chinese goods amid the crisis and encouraged a wave of innovativeness among companies.

Moving forward, he said China would need to continue with its social and economic reform especially in the financial sector, fiscal and taxation mechanism, income distribution system and revamp of state-owned enterprises.

He attributed the meteoric rise of China becoming a productive, relatively prosperous and internationally competitive nation throughout the last 30 years to its unwavering path on reforms.

“The main driving force for China’s future development will still depend on reform. By 2020, our goal is not only to build a moderately prosperous society but also deepen economic reform.

“We will also have to further improve our economic structure based on socialist capital market and ensure all our economic and social systems become more mature,” he said.

He said China was facing problems of overcapacity especially in the iron and steel, aluminium, cement, glass, coke, photovoltaic and wind energy equipment industries, in the course of its transformation into one of the world’s biggest manufacturing-based nations.

He said the government would have to strike a balance and maintain only companies which were energy efficient and high technology centric.

“We will make sure the people earn enough money and have money to spend and this will boost domestic consumption which is key to our economic development.

“At last year’s 18th CCP National Congress, the leadership and party delegates further triggered the enthusiasm of the Chinese people to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and this provides us with great strength to leap forward.”

Made in China By CHOW HOW BAN

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