Several cities in China’s Jiangsu Province have begun downgrading the titles of government offices and officials as part of an administrative standardization campaign, according to a June 20 report by Shanghai-based The Paper. Multiple municipal agencies have renamed departments previously designated as “Chu” (处, division) to “Ke” (科, section), resulting in corresponding title changes from division chief and deputy division chief to section chief and deputy section chief.
Government notices issued by agencies in the cities of Huai’an and Nantong state that the changes were made in accordance with unified administrative requirements. In Huai’an, all departments previously designated as “Chu” were renamed “Ke,” with the corresponding leadership titles adjusted automatically without separate personnel appointment notices.
According to a source familiar with China’s government system, the restructuring reflects Beijing’s effort to curb the continued expansion of local government staffing amid mounting fiscal pressures. Chinese media have previously estimated that a typical prefecture-level city with a population of several million employs roughly 1,500 to 1,850 division-level officials across Party and government agencies, public institutions, and state-owned enterprises, while the number of section-level officials may exceed 11,000.
Source: Epoch Times, June 25, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/6/24/n14795383.htm