Beijing Rolls Out Massive Ministries Shake-up

Beijing has put forward sweeping proposals for the biggest ministry shake-up in years, including the merger of its banking and insurance regulators and the creation of several new ministries.

A parliament document showed the central government will create seven new ministries in the areas of natural resources; ecological environment; emergency management; agriculture and rural affairs; culture and tourism; veterans affairs; and the National Health Commission.

The shake-up also includes the creation of a new immigration management bureau and the restructuring of the national intellectual property rights bureau. The mainland has also proposed forming a national markets supervision management bureau, which will take on broad responsibilities including anti-trust and product safety.

It will also merge its banking and insurance regulators, transferring some of the regulatory roles to the central bank. The merger of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission is aimed at resolving existing regulatory problems such as unclear responsibilities and cross-regulation, according to the document.

Speculation that the central government was considering the creation of a super financial regulator has been rife since the 2015 stock market crash, blamed in part on poor inter-agency coordination.

The reform proposals are expected to be approved by parliament on Saturday. When the plan is passed, the cabinet will consist of 26 ministries and commissions in addition to the State Council.

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