China Reshapes Govt. With Energy Push

China announced Tuesday that it would reorganize the central government by creating five so-called superministries, including one responsible for improving environmental protection. But the plan stopped short of creating a single agency to oversee the contentious issue of energy policy.

The new plan divides authority over energy. A new “high level” energy commission would develop national energy strategies. But an energy bureau under the central planning agency would control administration and oversight of the energy sector.

Yang Fuqiang, director of the Beijing office of the nonprofit Energy Foundation, said the creation of the two energy agencies represented a political compromise. He predicted that they would eventually be merged into a full ministry, but not for a few more years.