BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Ministry of Supervision have jointly issued a provisional regulation to strengthen control on the establishment of government departments.

The establishment, disbanding, merging and upgrading of government departments without authorization would be punished under the regulation, said an official with the Ministry of Supervision here on Tuesday.

The regulation, implemented last month, also prohibited the appointment of government leaders beyond the personnel quota.

Members of the public could report violations of the regulation to supervision departments or call a hotline number "12310", said the official.

Earlier this month, China's State Council approved a regulation on the establishment and size of local governments, which requires local governments to set up minimal, unified and efficient departments with reasonable numbers of staff.

The establishment of departments should be based on comprehensive consideration of their responsibilities and ensure coordinated efforts in carrying out policies and decisions.

The regulation limits the authorized size of local governments to within local financial resources, and prohibits the establishment of additional departments or recruitment of more staff.