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For instance the Agricultural Bank into the People's Bank; the Statistics Bureau into the Ministry of Finance.
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Also clear is that the number of officials at this top level has been 27
reduced drastically. The two broadcasting bureaux are striking exceptions to this.
Unlike most of the ministries which appear to have completed re organisation, it would seem that the bureaux have some way to go in this respect. However it is increasingly probable that future recruitment will favour 'old' cadres and others who have been professionally associated with appropriate occupations for some time.
Although some PLA representatives have been appointed to top positions, their precise PLA origins are unclear. What is clear is that they seem to have survived Lin's purge which may indicate they have not had close ties with him. Too many positions at director level remain vacant for us to finally determine total PLA representation.
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Conclusions
The Cultural Revolution has had a far reaching impact on the organisation and personnel of the State Council. In our concluding chapter, this impact -will be examined. In addition overall assessments of the existing State Council organisation will be made, contrasting it with the pre Cultural Revolution structure. The role of the PLA, the effect of the Lin Piao incident, and the types of senior cadres recruited or rehabilitated since 1968 will also be considered.
Organisation
With regard to ministerial reorganisation which largely seems to have taken place during or after 1970, the following approaches seem to have been used by the Chinese. One, to leave ministries unchanged; two, to abolish altogether certain ministries and transfer their functions to another, to a lower level of administration, or seemingly dispense with them; three, to amalgamate ministries with related interests.
Some twenty-two ministries are thought to exist at the present time. This is less than half the number in existence immediately before the
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Cultural Revolution. Of the twenty-two, thirteen seem to have come 2
through the process unchanged, while the rest seem to have arisen from 3 amalgamations or have incorporated the functions of other ministries. It should be noted that ministries in this category are almost entirely
In March 1966 there were forty-nine ministries.
Namely the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Economic Relations, Finance, Building Construction, Building Materials, Fourth Machine Building, Sixth Machine Building, Metallurgical Industry, State Capital Construction, Water Conservancy and Power, National Defence, Public Health, Physical Culture and Sports.
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Amalgamated ministries include Communications, Agriculture and Forestry, Fuel and Chemicals and Light Industry. The ministries which have
incorporated others include Commerce, First Machine Building, and State
restricted to the economic and industrial sectors, while those in the international, military and social sectors have not been amalgamated or incorporated. The ministries in the latter category represent units which are not easily amalgamated or incorporated as their functions are more diverse.
Certain ministries appear to have been abolished altogether:
Scientific and Technological, Nationalities Affairs, Second, Third, Fifth, Seventh Machine Building, Allocation of Materials, Labour, Culture,
Higher Education, Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and Overseas Chinese Affairs. The functions of the Science, Culture and Education Ministries are obviously handled by the two 'groups' under the State Council which will be discussed later. The machine building ministries have possibly been transferred to the PLA or National Defence as they are engaged in the manufacture of various types of weaponry. Cultural
Relations is probably handled by both the Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Cultural Group and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Who has responsibility for the remaining sectors is not clear.
The two Groups represent an attempt to administer the highly
sensitive areas of culture and education in a revolutionary way. It is possible that in the future these two groups will be converted into more conventional ministries.
Lack of data about organisation within the ministries themselves prevents us from making judgements as to whether 'simpler administration' has affected this area too. The only ministry about which judgement can be made is the Foreign Ministry. In 1973 there are six geographic
departments as against seven in 1966, and five service departments as against six in 1966. In other words, taking the seven years as a whole, there has been no dramatic reduction in the numbers of internal
although in the case of amalgamated and incorporated ministries, the numbers of internal departments may have increased.
In 1966 there were some twenty-four bureaux subordinate to the State Council, while in mid 1973 seventeen were identified. It appears that none have been amalgamated or incorporated into others, but that several have been abolished. Those that have not been mentioned by NCNA since October 1968 include Secretaries, Statistics, Agricultural Bank,
Administration of Industry and Commerce, Price Control, Housing, Foreign Languages Publishing, Language Reform, Archives, Scientific/Technological Cadres Administration, State Arrangements, Counsellors and the Premier's Office. Some of these may have been abolished, while others' functions
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