Division of powers set to be given a trial run in the capital

Separation of powers - translated into Chinese as san quan fen li (three divisions of power) - is one of the main features of Western-style democracy and any attempt to transplant it to the mainland, where the Communist Party controls the legislature, executive and judiciary, is strictly prohibited.

But wielding so much power - over all people and all things - can be a tiring game to play, just as running the old planned economy was. As an editorial in Hangzhou's Du Shi Kuai Bao declared: 'Sustainable power must be under proper checks, constraints, regulations and supervision.'

Struggling to rein in a bloated bureaucracy, rampant corruption, and all sorts of dereliction and lack of ability, Beijing may want to rewrite its own game rules.

Mentioning the separation of powers is still forbidden, but that does not mean that Communist Party theorists cannot find other ways of redefining power. Some of them have been talking about the separation of administrative powers - decision-making, implementation and supervision.

The notion first appeared at the Communist Party's 17th national congress in 2007 but progress towards it has been sporadic.

Local officials in Beijing sought to redress that last week, with top officials from the municipal corruption prevention bureau telling The Beijing News that they were redefining administrative power in all district- and county-level divisions.

According to a work plan adopted by the municipal leadership late last month, in five years' time there will be healthy 'mutual constraint and co-ordination' among decision-making, implementing and supervisory departments, based on the 'relative separation of power'.