Chinese President Xi Jinping in a bid to strengthen his control of China and the Communist Party will create new watchdogs who will keep tabs on China’s financial system and its digital and technological sectors.

The Chinese ministry of science and technology will also be restructured and their powers will be redistributed to other departments, the Wall Street Journal reported. The headcount across central government agencies will be reduced by 5% across the board.

Why The Restructuring?

The Chinese government will undergo the restructuring as China wants to promote scientific advancements, strengthen financial lapses, develop rural infrastructure, among other things, the Wall Street Journal said citing Xiao Jie, a senior member of the State Council.

Xiao in his speech to the Chinese Communist Party said party members and officials must “resolutely uphold the party centre’s authority and centralised, unified leadership” during the revamp.

The plan will be rubber-stamped on Friday.

Experts as well as insiders speaking to the WSJ said it is part of Xi’s aim to establish himself and his party at the centre of Chinese society.

The report pointed out that the fresh move marks a departure from how former Chinese president Deng Xiaoping envisioned the working of the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China.

Deng Xiaoping batted for clearer divisions of responsibilities between the party and the government and wanted the Chinese civil service to be more professional in order to facilitate better governance.

This meant the party operated in parallel with state institutions and allowed government agencies to have more say when it came to designing and implementing policies.

However, Xi Jinping wants to depart from that system and wants the party to lead over all aspects of governance. The shift will be on his main aims during his third term as China’s president.

The plans to revamp party bureaucracy was not highlighted but plans will be announced after March 13 once National People’s Congress concludes its annual session.

Xi has blamed bureaucratic foot-dragging by officials posted at lower levels for the unfulfilled promises and implementation of his agenda.

This is the first time a shake-up of such magnitude is being planned after 2018. That time, too, the shake-up was ordered by Xi Jinping as he put the party in charge of policy making (though not overtly visibly) across financial, economic and diplomatic sectors.

Chinese Banking Regulatory Body May Cease to Exist

A new banking watchdog named the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration will be carved out of the existing banking and insurance regulatory commission.

This body will also take over some roles earlier fulfilled by the Chinese central bank and once the changes are implemented China’s banking and insurance regulatory commission would no longer exist.

The Wall Street Journal in its report also said that the Ministry of Science and Technology would be streamlined.

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