Shenzhen think tank advises on streamlining government agencies

Government agencies should be further streamlined, and ministries with similar duties and responsibilities should be developed as well, a think tank report suggested on Friday.

The 2016 China Reform report, released by the Shenzhen Innovation and Development Institute, analyzed and evaluated China's reform last year and made suggestions on future reforms.

The report suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water Resources and State Forestry Administration should be merged into one encompassing ministry. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology should also be consolidated, while the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation should merge as well, according to the report.

It also suggested that three regulatory commissions - banking, insurance and securities - be merged to form a mega state finance regulatory commission.

"The restructuring of government departments is to improve efficiency and push forward scientific administration," said Xu Yaotong, a professor with the National Academy of Governance.

Zhang Siping, founder of the Shenzhen Innovation and Development Institute, said China's reform in 2016 had breakthroughs in areas such as anti-corruption. But in many other areas, reforms have only just started and are yet to meet public expectations, such as in education and medical sectors.