Former power regulator leads energy watchdog

BEIJING - Wu Xinxiong, former chairman of China's State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC), has taken the reins of the National Energy Administration (NEA), according to the NEA.

Wu was also named a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, according to a resume posted on the NEA website late Monday night.

Born in eastern Jiangsu Province in October 1949, Wu served as governor of Jiangxi, also an eastern province, for over four years before assuming his post as SERC chairman in June 2011, the resume shows.

The website did not mention whether Wu's predecessor Liu Tienan has been assigned to any new posts.

Born in October 1954, Liu has served as a deputy director of the NDRC since 2008 and, according to the NDRC website, he remains on the commission's list of deputy directors.

China will restructure the NEA to streamline the administrative and regulatory systems of the energy sector, according to a cabinet reshuffle plan adopted by the Chinese parliament earlier this month.

The new NEA will incorporate the functions of the SERC, which is to be dissolved, and remain under the jurisdiction of the NDRC. Its main responsibilities will include drafting and implementing energy development strategies, plans and policies, advising on energy system reform and regulating the sector.

The NEA was established in the last round of government institutional reform in 2008.