How China’s latest government overhaul is shaping up, and what it says about the Communist Party’s priorities
- New bodies dedicated to issues such as financial risk and social stability are being established at a central and local level
- Shake-up is seen by some analysts as part of wider moves to strengthen the party’s control over key policy areas and organs of government
In the latest restructuring plan, rolled out in the spring of 2023, Beijing moved to assert more direct party control over a wide range of key policy areas, including science and technology, the financial sector and social stability.
A year later, the nature and scale of the restructuring is starting to take shape as new agencies covering these areas have been set up by central and local governments.
Looking closely at their operations provides an opportunity not just to see how they operate in practice, but also helps shed more light on Beijing’s policy priorities and the challenges it faces.
The top Hong Kong and Macau policy office will also report directly to the party’s Central Committee, rather than the State Council, the country’s cabinet, to improve coordination with other branches of government as Beijing seeks to tighten its control over the city.
The overhaul is an “important part of the ruling Communist Party’s effort to channel nationwide resource-to-technology self-reliance, while strengthening the party’s control over financial and social risks”, as it faces an increasingly hostile West, according to Alfred Wu, an associate professor with the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
