The central government of China is set to merge the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on March 7. 

The news report quoted Shuyuan HUANG, the president of the GAPP-administered People’s Publish Housing, as saying that a merger between GAPP and SARFT was likely, although the decision would not be finalised until the end of the annual session of the National People’s Congress. Huang also added that the merger between the two bodies would lead to deregulation in areas such as licensing. 

According to the publication, the merger is a part of the government’s efforts to create “super ministries” so as to minimise red tape. SCMP also reported that Yu YAN, director of the Government Management and Industry Development Research Institute at Peking University, said Beijing preferred to merge GAPP and SARFT instead of creating a super ministry due to functional differences.