(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-21 20:05

The Communist Party of China (CPC) announced on Tuesday a reshuffle of the leadership of provincial-level authorities in the first half of 2008 to cut the number of posts.

The twice-a-decade reshuffle will involve positions in legislatures, governments and political advisory bodies of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and some major cities, according to a statement from the CPC Central Committee.

The reshuffle will be an opportunity to "further reform leadership lineups", according to the statement, which says one of the priorities is to "cut the number of official posts".

This is in line with China's continuing efforts to streamline official organizations. In the recently-concluded provincial-level Party leadership reshuffle, most of the local Party committees cut the number of deputy chiefs to two from four or five.

Next year's reshuffle would see an "increasing number of officials holding concurrent Party and government posts", the statement said.

The statement also stressed that the retirement age limit of officials be observed, but offered no detailed information.

In the statement, the CPC central committee put "ideological and political quality" as the most important criteria of taking an official post.

CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and CPC's Organization Department will dispatch inspection teams to prevent illegal activities and corruption during the reshuffle.