China will split its post authority, or China Post, into two
parts in a bid to separate enterprises from government
administration, Friday's Oriental Morning Post reported.
Under a plan submitted by the State Post Bureau (SPB) to the
State Council, or the Chinese cabinet, China Post will be broken
into the China Post Group and the Post Administration.
"This was the goal of the ongoing postal system reform, which
has been brewing for about seven years," said Xia Liqun, head of
SPB's information center.
If the plan is approved, most staffs of post offices across
China will become enterprise employees and the existing SPB will be
replaced by the Post Administration with about 1,000 officials.
"The aim of the split is to separate enterprises from government
department and build an independent supervision system," said Gu
Lianyu, an expert with the China Society of Communications.
The China Post Group will exercise the commercial function of
SPB and the Post Administration will supervise China's post
business and enterprises and draft related rules, regulations and
standards.
"The move was welcomed by both business associations and private
companies," said Liu Jianxin, secretary general of the China
International Freight Forwarders Association.
(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2005)