China will set up five new "super ministries" in a fresh round of government institutional restructuring, and a plan for the reshuffle was submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC), or parliament, by Premier Wen Jiabao, for deliberation on Tuesday afternoon.
The five "super ministries" are the ministry of industry and information, the ministry of human resources and social security, the ministry of environmental protection, the ministry of housing and urban-rural construction, and the ministry of transport.
To strengthen the government management on the energy sector, a high-level inter-ministerial consultation and coordinating body, the national energy commission, is also to be established, with a national bureau of energy to be set up as its executive office under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The new bureau will integrate the NDRC's functions relating to energy management, the functions of the National Energy Leading Group and the functions of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense on nuclear power management.
The combination of a sizzling economy, soaring investment growth in the heavy industries and cars crowding urban streets have driven up China's demand for fuel. In 2007, the country's imports of crude oil hit 159.28 million tons, rising 14.7 year-on-year and contributing 46 percent to the total crude consumption.