New Delhi: China plans to create an energy ministry to oversee the country's vast oil, natural gas, coal and power sectors, part of a planned government shake-up aimed at making policymaking more efficient, four sources with ties to the country's leadership said this week.The new ministry would replace the existing regulator, the National Energy Administration (NEA), which was created a decade ago and is part of the powerful state economic planner, the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC).
The new ministry would not be under the NDRC and would handle energy-related duties currently scattered across many government agencies, the sources said.
The planned shake-up is part of a broader reshuffling of government departments, which will be presented to China's largely rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday. It is not clear if details on the changes will immediately be made public.
China is also expected to overhaul its financial regulatory set-up, possibly merging different agencies to improve the ability to control financial risk, said four additional sources familiar with the matter.
The NEA declined to comment and the NDRC did not respond to requests for comment.
It was not known who will be appointed to run the new ministry. Nur Bekri heads the NEA and is a vice minister of the NDRC.