Government Administrative Structure Reform

From the early 1990s, when the need to fundamentally restructure China&s;s state-run economy became clear, Chinese leaders have realized that China&s;s government administrative structure is an obstacle to reform. The administrative structures of Central-level ministries responsible for specific industries, subordinate provincial-level bureaus, and enterprises under the direct control of administrative ministries and bureaus were established as an organic part of central planning. By the mid-1990s it was clear that without breaking down the network of institutional interests in the status quo, successful reform of the state-owned enterprise system would be impossible. At National People&s;s Congress meeting in March 1998, a massive reform of Central government&s;s bureaucracy was announced and approved, the architect and driver of this reform was the new premier, Zhu Rongji. This chapter discusses the roles played by two key policy commissions since 1952: the State Planning Commission and the State Economic Commission under State Council. In Zhu Rongji&s;s March 1998 reform, both commissions were substantially reformed.