The number of Chinese township governments fell to 34,675 last year, down 798 from the previous year, according to a report by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Since 1998, the central government has been simplifying lower level administrations in a bid to bring down costs for rural people.

Provincial governments have ordered grassroots authorities to merge and cut staff.

China saw a 15-percent drop in township governments to 2002 when most of the country's provincial regions completed the reform.

The number of township governments was reduced to 39,240 in 2002 from 46,436 in 1997, according to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Development and Reform Commission.

Experts and ordinary Chinese, especially those in rural areas, have been calling for simplification of township governments, arguing hefty administration costs induce some officials to collect unauthorized payments from farming households.

Grassroots officials who impose unwarranted charges face administrative penalties. Earlier this year, 179 government officials in east China's Shandong Province were removed or demoted for this reason.

Source: Xinhua