The Chinese State Council will begin its restructuring of governmental functions at ministry level to reduce administrative intervention in the market and on social issues, State Councilor Ma Kai said while delivering a report at the first session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC).

State Councilor Ma Kai delivers a report on the State Council institutional reform and transformation of government functions (Photo: Xinhua)

Ma said government departments, which are paying too much attention to micro-issues, are troubled by the duplication of functions, and tend to pass the responsibility to each other once a problem occurs. This restructure is the 7^th in the past 3 decades. Under the plan, the number of ministries under the State Council will fall from 27 to 25, and several departments and agencies will be reorganized. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in his report at the opening ceremony, promised to renew the government’s functions and separate administrative management from that of businesses, national assets, state institutions, and social organizations to increase the government’s efficiency.