The central government has approved the restructuring plans of 21 provincial and municipal governments, a senior official has said.

As of Feb 23, 21 of the 27 plans handed in by provinces and municipalities had been approved, including those of Shanghai and Shaanxi province, Wu Zhilun, vice-director of the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform, was quoted as saying in yesterday's Outlook Weekly.

Following the national government institutional reforms designed to improve efficiency that began in March of last year, the local level plans focus on improving public services, protecting people's livelihoods and caring for the environment, Wu said.

Some governments have effectively transferred some of their administrative power to lower-level administrations, Wu said.

In Hainan province, for example, the provincial government has transferred most powers that city and county governments are able to handle.

It is expected that with the reforms, more than 80 departments of vice-provincial level will be phased out across the country, Wu said.

In Chongqing municipality, four departments related to agriculture have been merged, with the loss of 50 civil service jobs in 16 divisions.

It is clear in the principles of the restructurings that new departments cannot be larger than they were before, Wu said.

"The number of divisional heads must also be strictly restricted," he said.

While the reforms are ongoing, local governments must also strengthen departments geared to alleviating the impact of the financial crisis, Wu said.

"The allocation of personnel must take the economic situation into account," said.

The reforms made at the national level over the past year have strengthened the government's capabilities on macro-control, energy management, environment protection, family planning, food security, housing, social security, culture, and public health and safety, Wu said.

"It has yielded many good results," he said.

(China Daily March 3, 2009)