Reforms to cut fat from government

The city of Shenzhen, which pioneered the economic reform of China, is once again at the cutting edge of change as it relaunched a pilot project yesterday to trim the size of government.

Back on the table after a six-year hiatus, the scheme is believed by analysts to signal fresh reform of the huge 8-million-strong Chinese civil service as the nation marks its 60th anniversary in October.

The long-awaited and well-debated cuts, which will reshuffle overlapping government institutions into a three-part structure of decision-making, implementation and supervision, have been hailed by the public.