The demotion of the Chinese railway ministry two years ago was a precipitous fall from grace. Previously, the ministry had been a colossus bestriding China, with more than 2m employees, its own police force and court system and nearly as much debt as the government of Russia.
Corruption charges against Liu Zhijun, the then railway minister, in early 2011 signalled that Beijing was ready to reduce the power of the ministry. A fatal high-speed train crash in July 2011 expedited the process.
In March, after careful planning, the government did the deed, reclassifying the railway ministry as a bureau under the transport ministry.
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