The State Council, China's cabinet, held an executive meeting yesterday in Beijing to discuss issues relating to the three new government bodies, poverty relief and industrial safety.
The meeting, presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, passed, in principle, the regulations on personnel and structures for the newly established State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC), the Ministry of Commerce and the State Assets Management Commission (SAMC).
The product of the reorganization of the former State Development Planning Commission, the SDRC is expected to improve macroeconomic planning.
The Ministry of Commerce, replacing the decade-old Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, will take charge of the country's domestic and foreign trade as well as international economic co-operation.
The newly established SAMC will supervise and manage State assets in order to improve the performance of State-owned enterprises.
In addition, the meeting discussed how to tackle poverty in both urban and rural areas. Effective measures should be taken, including increased funding for social welfare, said the meeting.
The participants also discussed the large number of recent large-scale traffic and coalmine accidents and decided to ask local governments to strengthen industrial safety.
(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2003)
