After two years of preparation, China's local government restructuring plan has moved into the phase of implementation, according to the latest issue of the news weekly "Outlook".

The March 27th issue of the magazine notes that the local government restructuring will proceed under the direct leadership of the central government.

The make-up of local government departments will largely be in line with the central government, and their staff will be halved from the current levels.

For instance, the municipal government of Beijing has announced that the number of its departments and agencies will be reduced to45 from 67, and the authorized size of administration will be halved.

The east China province of Anhui declared that it planned to drastically reduce its over-blown provincial government departments, with about half of the officials and staff leaving their posts when the reform completes.

However, in the southern province of Hainan, only 15.8 percent of government officials and staff will have to go, the magazine reports.

The reason is that when the province was first established in the 1980s, the provincial government put much emphasis on "small government", and consequently the size of its government is quite small compared to those of other provinces.

In the meantime, the local government restructuring also calls for the further shifting of government functions, in addition to downsizing government departments, the magazine notes.

It takes the coastal province of Guangdong as an example. The provincial government there has shortened its list of items that must be examined and approved by the government from 1,392 to 414.As a result, its ability to exercise macro-management will be greatly strengthened, while the market will have a bigger role to play in the relocation of resources, the magazine says.

The magazine also notes differences between the government restructuring at the central government level and at local government levels.

Local government restructuring has proceeded along with the restructuring of committees of the Communist Party of China (CPC).In Beijing, the number of working departments of the municipal CPC committee has been reduced to 12 from 17.

In Hainan, the provincial party committee has reduced its size by 25 percent.

However, local governments have retained special departments and agencies, such as urban management committees, the magazine notes.