Jiangsu Streamlines Government: Departments Become Sections in Major Restructuring

Multiple government agencies across Jiangsu province are undergoing a significant internal restructuring, renaming their “departments” (处, Chu) to “sections” (科, Ke) and downgrading director positions to section chiefs. The reform, implemented across cities including Huai’an, Wuxi, and Nantong, aims to standardize internal government structures and align official nomenclature with actual administrative rank, according to The Paper.

Context: Correcting a Bureaucratic Mismatch

At the prefecture-city level in China, municipal government bureaus are typically ranked at the department level (处级), while their internal organs should properly be at the section level (科级). However, many municipal bureaus had historically named their internal units “Chu” (处, department), creating confusion about hierarchy and contributing to what critics describe as “title inflation” within Chinese institutions.

This reform corrects that misalignment. As one commenter on QQ News noted: “This correction is necessary. Municipal-level organs are already at the department level; internal organs should be at the section level. We cannot be grandiose and inflate ourselves.”

Key Developments Across Three Cities

Huai’an City

The Huai’an Municipal Bureau of Commerce was among the first to act, issuing a notice on June 17, 2026, stating that “all internal organs originally named ‘Chu’ have been adjusted to ‘Ke’” in accordance with unified standardization requirements. The Comprehensive Department became the Comprehensive Section, the Finance Department became the Finance Section, and the Market System Construction and Circulation Development Department became the Market System Construction and Circulation Development Section. Guo Xiaojin was appointed as Comprehensive Section Chief, and Yan Zuhui as Finance Section Chief.

On June 11, the Huai’an Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment followed suit, renaming its Office (Publicity and Education Department) to Office (Publicity and Education Section), and its Comprehensive Business Department to Comprehensive Business Section. The Huai’an Municipal Bureau of Finance also adjusted titles, with Ling Bing moving from Budget Department Director to Budget Section Chief, Song Xianling from Treasury Department Director to Treasury Section Chief, and Lu Jing from Government Procurement Management Department Director to Government Procurement Management Section Chief.

Nantong City

The Nantong Municipal Bureau of Transportation announced changes on June 15, citing the Municipal Organization Office’s Notice No. 14 (通编办发〔2026〕14号). Sun Zhenhong was appointed as Personnel Section Chief, and He Suqin as Retired Cadres Section Chief.

Wuxi City

On June 11, the Wuxi Municipal Foreign Affairs Office renamed its Europe-Africa Department to Europe-Africa Section, its Asia-Pacific Department to Asia-Pacific Section, and its Hong Kong-Macao Affairs Department to Hong Kong-Macao Affairs Section.

Historical Precedent: The Nanchang Model

This is not the first such reform in China. In November 2020, Nanchang City in Jiangxi Province implemented a similar standardization under Notice No. 61 (洪编发〔2020〕61号). All department-level internal organs in municipal party and government organs were uniformly renamed to section-level designations. The Personnel Department became the Personnel Section, the Finance Department became the Finance Section, and the Policy and Regulation Department became the Policy and Regulation Section.

Analysis: Implications of the Reform

While administrative in nature, the reform carries several important implications:

Bureaucratic Standardization: The change corrects a long-standing misalignment between formal nomenclature and actual administrative rank. Municipal bureau internal organs were called “departments” despite being at the section level, creating confusion about hierarchy both within government and for the public.

Anti-Inflation of Titles: The reform pushes back against a broader trend of “title inflation” in Chinese institutions, where organizations adopt higher-sounding titles than their actual rank warrants. This phenomenon extends beyond government — as one commenter observed, many higher education institutions have proliferated “deans” and “presidents” in ways that obscure actual organizational hierarchy.

Provincial Coordination: The simultaneous implementation across multiple cities in Jiangsu suggests a coordinated provincial-level directive, though no explicit provincial mandate has been publicly named. This mirrors the broader wave of institutional reforms that have swept China since 2023, including the creation of the Central Social Work Department and National Data Bureau, as analyzed by f5.pm.

What’s Next

The Jiangsu restructuring raises several open questions. Will this reform extend to other provinces beyond Jiangsu? The 2020 Nanchang precedent suggests that similar standardization efforts may gradually spread across the country. Additionally, it remains to be seen whether the name changes will be accompanied by any substantive changes in salary, benefits, or operational procedures for the affected personnel.

For now, the reform represents a modest but meaningful step toward bureaucratic clarity — one that many Chinese citizens have welcomed. As one Jiangsu-based commenter put it: “This should have been changed long ago. The one-character difference from ‘Chu’ to ‘Ke’ makes it legitimate and proper.”