VZCZCXRO2205
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0477/01 3090247
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040247Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7296
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2247
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1512
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 1483
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1671
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 1504
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1305
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 7894

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000477 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/INA/CUSHMAN AND WINSHIP 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR/B 
USDOC PASS BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS 
USDOC FOR ITA DAS KASOFF, MELCHER, OCEA 
STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD, WINTER, KATZ 
HHS FOR OGHA/STEIGER, BHAT, ABDO AND PASS TO FDA/LUMPKIN 
NSC FOR LOI 
EMBASSY BEIJING FOR HHS/FDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV ETRD EINV EAGR SENV CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI GOVERNMENT RESTRUCTURING FOLLOWS CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 
INITIATIVE 
 
REF: BEIJING 1012 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified and for official 
use only.  Not for distribution outside of USG channels or via 
the internet. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The CPC Central Committee and the State Council 
recently approved Shanghai's plan on restructuring municipal 
government agencies.  The restructuring is in line with the 
Central Government's administrative reorganization in March 2008 
at the National People's Congress, which also was known as the 
"Super Ministries" reform (reftel).  In Shanghai, 27 previous 
municipal government entities were consolidated into 11 
commissions, bureaus and administrations all of which report 
directly to one Central Government umbrella ministry or 
commission.  The goals of the reform are to increase efficiency, 
establish clearer regulations and guidelines, and improve 
accountability.  End Summary. 
 
Details of the Restructuring 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The new Shanghai Municipal Government organizations are 
the:  Economic and Informatization Commission, Commerce 
Commission, Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, 
Public Health Bureau, Urban Rural Development and Transport 
Commission, Urban Communications and Harbor Administration, 
Housing Security and House Administration Bureau, Planning and 
Land Resources Bureau, Afforestation and City Appearance 
Administration, Supervisory Bureau, and Tourism Bureau.  Each 
organization now reports directly to one Central Government 
ministry instead of multiple ministries. 
 
¶3. (U) Municipal government organizations unchanged by the 
restructuring are the:  Development and Reform Commission, 
Finance Bureau, Administration of Taxation, Auditing Bureau, 
Statistics Bureau, Financial Service Office, Foreign Affairs 
Office, Ethics and Religious Affairs Commission, Office of 
Overseas Chinese Affairs, Administration of Industry and 
Commerce, Bureau of Quality and Technical Inspection, 
Agriculture Commission, Bureau of Civil Affairs, Bureau of 
Justice, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration 
Commission, Safe Production Supervision Administration, Civil 
Defense Office, Education Commission, Science and Technology 
Commission, Culture, Radio Broadcasting, Film and Television 
Administration, Press and Publication Bureau, Population and 
Family Planning Commission, Physical Culture Bureau, 
Intellectual Property Rights Bureau, and the 2010 Shanghai World 
Expo. 
 
¶4. (U) According to the flow chart released by the municipal 
government, Shanghai's eight vice mayors -- Yang Xiong 
(Executive Vice Mayor), Tu Guangshao, Tang Dengjie, Hu Yanzhao, 
Ai Baojun, Shen Jun, Shen Xiaoming, and Zhao Wen -- divide the 
responsibility for the new government structure, which now 
totals 37 commissions, bureaus, and administrations.  Tang 
Dengjie retains the Foreign Affairs portfolio and adds the new 
Commerce Commission; Tu Guangshao (formerly Vice Chairman of the 
China Securities Regulatory Commission) retains the finance 
portfolios; and Shen Jun will handle the bulk of the 
restructuring as he supervises six new organizations under his 
environment portfolio. 
 
Environmental Concerns 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) As at the Central Government level, much of Shanghai's 
restructuring focused on environmental, food safety, and 
economic concerns.  The reform elevated the status of the 
Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPB) parallel to the 
 
SHANGHAI 00000477  002 OF 003 
 
 
creation of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), 
which replaced the State Environmental Protection Administration 
(SEPA) in the Central Government.  SEPB Foreign Affairs Office 
Director Wu Chenjian told Congenoff the new bureau would add 
more departments and staff in line with its higher status and 
will participate in more decisions on Shanghai's overall 
development.  (Bio Note: Wu said he plans to retire after SEPB 
completes its restructuring.  End Bio Note.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) Shanghai did not, however, create a local energy 
organization parallel to the creation of the Central 
Government's National Energy Administration under the National 
Development and Reform Commission.  Contacts have told 
Congenoffs that municipal government leaders made the decision 
to not create a separate energy entity because Shanghai is not 
an energy producer. 
 
Addressing Food Safety 
---------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Under the reorganization, the Shanghai Food and Drug 
Administration (SFDA) will move under the umbrella of the 
Shanghai Public Health Bureau.  This mirrors actions of the 
Central Government earlier this year and will hopefully result 
in clearer regulations and guidelines.  SFDA's director, Wang 
Longxing, has been announced as the Party Secretary of the 
restructured Public Health Bureau.  Shanghai contacts hope the 
new bureau will more effectively tackle product safety issues, 
as China's recent food and drug safety scandals have been 
partially attributed to inconsistent regulations and enforcement. 
 
Adjusting to Economic Realities 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Recognizing economic pressures that are bringing 
together trade and investment issues, the government 
restructuring created the Shanghai Commerce Commission, which 
merged the duties of the former Shanghai Foreign Economic 
Relations and Trade Commission (SMERT), Shanghai Foreign 
Investment Commission, the Shanghai Economic Commission's 
responsibilities on domestic trade administration, and the 
Shanghai Grain Bureau.  The Commerce Commission's first Director 
will be Sha Hailin, who has strong ties to the United States, 
having been Minister Counselor for Bilateral and Congressional 
Affairs at the Chinese Embassy in Washington from 2001 to 2002, 
as well as a visiting scholar at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. 
 
Bio Note: Sha Hailin 
-------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Sha Hailin was appointed Director of the Shanghai 
Commerce Commission by the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress 
(SMPC), according to a SMPC personnel appointment announcement 
on October 23.  Sha was born in June 1957 in Shanghai.  He 
graduated from Shanghai Normal University and Shanghai Tongji 
University with a Master's degree in engineering and a Ph.D. in 
management.  He was a visiting scholar at Georgia Institute of 
Technology in the United States and an intern with the U.S. 
firm, United Technologies Companies (UTC), with responsibility 
for strategic research. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Sha's previous posts include Vice Principal of 
Shanghai Wusong Middle School, Deputy Director of the Communist 
Youth League Shanghai Party Committee, President of Shanghai 
College for Youth Administrators, President of Shanghai Youth 
Federation, Party Secretary of Shanghai Baoshan District Yuepu 
Town and Party Secretary of Shanghai Pudong New Area Rural Work 
Committee.  When Sha worked at the CPC Shanghai Pudong Standing 
Committee, he served as standing member, Director of Department 
of Organization, Director of the Human Resource Bureau and 
Office Director of the Organizational Personnel Committee. 
 
 
SHANGHAI 00000477  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) Sha passed the first public selection of senior 
diplomat test organized by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and was appointed Minister Counselor at the Chinese 
Embassy in Washington, D.C. in charge of the Division of 
Bilateral and Congressional Affairs; he served there from March 
2001 to August 2002.  From August 2002 to November 2005, he 
served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the 
People's Republic of China to Ireland.  He then returned to 
Shanghai and served as Vice Magistrate, Acting Magistrate, 
Deputy Party Secretary and Party Secretary of CPC Shanghai Luwan 
Standing Committee and Deputy Secretary General of Shanghai 
Luwan District Government.  In recent months, he was in charge 
of the Shanghai Municipal Government's reconstruction projects 
in earthquake-affected areas in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province. 
CAMP