China's Ministry of Railways will be merged into the Ministry of Transport, a insider with the Ministry of Railways disclosed on February 25.

"The news has gone viral in the ministry, and people here are considering their future after the reform," said the insider.

However, the insider did not rule out the possibility that there may be a change of plans before the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's legislature, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, finally announces the merger during the upcoming two sessions in March.

If the merger plan were approved by the upcoming NPC, the following steps would involve in cancellation and merger of departments and personnel relocation. It would take as long as four to five years to complete the work.

"A great number of officials and employees will be involved in the reform of the railway system, so the follow-up work will be arduous," the railway insider said. In future, as the reform is advanced, some railway administrative leaders might be transferred to management sections.

Rong Chaohe, professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, believes the railway reform should include three meanings: First is institutional reform, which is merged into the Ministry of Transport; second is to separate railway operation and construction from government functions; and third is to resolve railway debt problems.

The main problems with the merger are debts and loans of the banks. Figures show that the Ministry of Railways was more than 2.66 trillion yuan ($418.9 billion) in debt by the end of the third quarter in 2012, and its debt ratio had reached 61.81 percent.

(Source: 21st Century Business Herald)