China unveils government restructuring plans

China unveiled details of a government restructuring plan on Sunday, which will see the number of cabinet-level entities reduced by two, including the dissolving of the powerful Railways Ministry.

The government will also merge the Family Planning Commission with the Health Ministry, and strengthen the powers of the food and drug regulators, it said in a statement released during the on-going annual meeting of parliament.

The reforms mark the biggest government restructuring since 1998, as China 's leaders look to larger but fewer ministries to boost efficiency and address popular concerns about how the bureaucracy works.

The Railways Ministry and Family Planning Commission have been particularly unpopular.