Broadcast and press watchdogs to merge into super ministry, official says

The central government is set to create a "super broadcast and press ministry" by merging the nation's broadcast watchdog, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft), and the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) in a scaled-back streamlining plan.

Huang Shuyuan , the president of the GAPP-administered People's Publish Housing, said a merger between GAPP and Sarft was likely, although the decision would not be finalised until the end of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

Huang, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said the merger would lead to deregulation in areas such as licensing.

Streamlining of the broadcast and press sectors is part of a push by the Communist Party to create some "super ministries" to cut red tape. Another proposal would see the scandal-plagued Ministry of Railways merged into the Ministry of Transport.

However, the push appears to stop short of creating a "super ministry of culture", which would have entailed merging GAPP and Sarft into the current Ministry of Culture.

Culture Minister Cai Wu said this week he had not been informed about plans for a super culture ministry and had not been asked to prepare such a merger. GAPP president Liu Binjie said the conditions for a super culture ministry were "not ripe".