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China vows more political reforms after shake-up
China has vowed to deepen political reform, starting with an administrative shake-up creating four "super-ministries" to steer key economic sectors and streamline decisions, state-run media reported yesterday.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:30 February 29, 2008
Beijing: China has vowed to deepen political reform, starting with an administrative shake-up creating four "super-ministries" to steer key economic sectors and streamline decisions, state-run media reported yesterday.
China's leaders have long said they support political reform, but any change has been halting and they have shown no sign of abandoning the one-party rule they claim is the linchpin of stability and development.
Under a plan approved by the ruling Communist Party's 204-member Central Committee, parliament, which meets next week, will form over-arching ministries for energy, industry, transport and the environment, said Ta Kung Pao, a mainland-run Hong Kong newspaper.
They would absorb dozens of often rival agencies that make administration fragmented and sluggish. More changes could come later, said the report.
Powers
It did not mention previously discussed proposals for "super-ministries" for finance and culture, nor did it give details of the new bureaucracies' powers - sure to be a source of contention. But the official meeting report indicated China's leaders, confronted with economic strains, widespread corruption and restive citizens, held out at least the prospect of political change, including a bigger say for the now tame parliament.
Ageing woe: One-child rule may go
China, worried about an ageing population, is studying scrapping its controversial one-child policy but will not do away with family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said yesterday.
With the world's biggest population straining scarce land, water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one child, or two in the countryside.
"We want incrementally to have this change," Vice Minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Zhao Baige told reporters in Beijing.
"I cannot answer at what time or how, but this has become a big issue among decision makers," Zhao added. "The attitude is to do the studies, to consider it responsibly and to set it up systematically." The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime has decreased to 1.8 in China today, from 5.8 in the 1970s, and below the replacement rate of 2.1.
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