Reforms of Government institutions Running Smoothly:MinisterReforms of China's government institutions have been running smoothly, said Song Defu, Minister of Personnel, in a recent interview with Xinhua and "People's Daily" reporters.Subordinate departments under the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council are being restructured to strengthen the leadership of the ruling Party and improve the efficiency of the central government. The number of employees at these departments has been cut by 20 percent, according to the minister. Draft plans for all the 31 provincial-level governments in China had been approved by mid-May and are being carried out, the official said. The official stressed that one of the major breakthroughs in the reforms of government institutions is that the government will no longer interfere in the operation of enterprises such as intermediate agencies engaged in accounting and auditing as well as law firms. The number of employees of provincial governments will be cut by 74,000. This number does not include public servants working with law-enforcing departments. The State Council has also turned many of its subordinate institutions into enterprises. Of the one million people working in the institutions, over 600,000 are now working for enterprises. The key to the reform of government institutions is to streamline governments at the city and county levels, Song said. |
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