A New Round of Structural Reform of the State Council

The first plenary session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) initiated the sixth round of China's administrative reforms. Five "super ministries" were established, and the number of ministries and commissions was reduced from 28 to 27. Last year's high expectations of a drastic reform of the State Council organs did not come true as many plans met with resistance from the departments concerned. The conflict between sweeping reform plans and the vested interests of the departments concerned - especially those of the oil, gas, and power monopolies - resulted in a compromise and will most likely lead to a new round of institutional reform at the 12th NPC in 2013. Adapted from the source document.