China eyes energy, environment ministries in March

By Emma Graham-Harrison

BEIJING, Jan 14 (Reuters) - China will likely get an energy ministry in March and upgrade its environment watchdog to ministry status, sources said on Monday, as it aims to boost fuel security with oil at $100 a barrel and cut back on pollution.

If the massive shift in China's unwieldy bureaucracy goes ahead, it would mark a sea-change in government priorities that will be welcomed by disparate groups ranging from oil industry executives to environmental campaigners.

At present energy policy-making and adminstration is scattered across several departments, which are understaffed and compete for power and influence.

The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), while more unified, lacks the power or budget to consistently enforce anti-pollution rules and hold offenders to account.

The changes would likely be approved during the annual session of the country's largely rubber-stamp Parliament, the National People's Congress, held in Beijing from March 5.

"The energy ministry I think is highly likely... and I would say it is 99 percent (sure) that SEPA will become a ministry," said an energy industry source with ties to government officials.

A foreign analyst who works closely with the Chinese government but declined to be named because of Beijing's sensitivity about the reshuffle said he had also been told to expect an upgrade of the environmental administration.

The changes would be part of a drive to streamline the proliferation of ministries and other administrative bodies -- from an economic planner to regulators -- the cabinet oversees.