The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is to be given an expanded industry development role in a revamp of China's central bureaucracy unveiled Tuesday.
Under the plan, the MII will take over the defense group Costindo as well as some telecom and IT functions of the planning body, the NDRC.
It will be renamed the Ministry for Industry and Information as part of a government drive to push growth in the country's important IT and telecom sectors.
The MII, founded ten years ago, currently regulates the telecom carriers, sets IT, telecom and internet technical standards and oversights the nation's huge electronics manufacturing sector.
It will be one of five new "super-ministries" under the new shake-up, downsizing the number of top-level agencies from 28 to 27, Xinhua reported Tuesday.
The reform plan was presented to the National People's Congress on Tuesday.