China reshuffles cabinet office

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-20 09:08

BEIJING - The General Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, has expanded its number of set staff and organization framework to reinforce its capacity to deal with emergencies.

Four new bureaux were added to the General Office of the State Council. They include the emergency management office, the supervision office, the electronic government office and the finance office. The emergency management office also doubles as the general office on duty.

The number of employees will increase from 219 to 519, according to a recent circular issued by the Office.

The reshuffle is part of an effort by the government to clear define of the responsibility of every government department, improve their services and efficiency while streamline the size of the public servants.

This represents the biggest change made to the cabinet office in a decade, the Beijing Times quoted analysts as saying.

The General Office has also removed part of its functions from the major responsibility list including dealing with petitions, providing consultation for disputes among departments under the State Council, carrying out research program under the direction of government leaders and better manage administrative affairs.

But analysts say these functions still exist as some of them are put under the rule of other bureaux under the State Council, such as the General Office which will directly manage the State Bureau for Letters and Calls, which is an important channel for ordinary people to make their voice heard.

China recently set a guideline for a new round of institutional reform of the State Council in an effort to build up a service-oriented, responsible, law-governing and clean government for the nation.

This remark came from an official in charge of the General Office of the Central Government Set-up Committee in a recent interview with Xinhua and People's Daily.

He emphasized the guidelines on restructuring some central government departments adopted on June 25 by the State Council's executive meeting were a directive document with the nature of law and it served as a base for State Council departments to play their functions.

One of the main jobs for the new round of administrative reform is to streamline the relations of functions and responsibilities for different central government departments. For example, the administrative powers in the sector of flash and online games will go to the Ministry of Culture, while the State Administration for Radio, Television and Film is the only administration for the film industry. Meanwhile, the General Administration for Press and Publication is responsible for controlling the whole sector of manufacturing audio and visual products.

Under circumstances when the management of a certain sector needs the cooperation of several departments, one department should be made the coordinator and it has the rights to summon the others concerned to carry out the administrative powers. For instance, the Ministry of Health will manage the issue of food safety, in collaboration with other departments concerned such as the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the State Food and Drug Administration.