Move to consolidate IT sector

China's Minister of Information Industry has been appointed to head the State Council's 'Informatisation
Office', a body that is responsible for setting policy on telecoms and the internet. The
appointment of Wang Xudong represents a consolidation of control over the IT sector and
is likely to be wel-comed by foreign investors in the telecoms industry who want more
consistent and transparent policy decision-making.
The office was established in 2001 partly to counterbalance the powerful position of Wang's predecessor.
Wu Jichuan, who was known to be close to the companies he regulated. Wang is
expected to take a more independent line and to be stricter in enforcing rules that relate to
co-operation between telecoms service operators.