Shenzhen will dissolve district governments in five years, replacing them with city representative offices to improve efficiency, Shenzhen's Party chief Liu Yupu said Wednesday.

"When conditions are mature, Shenzhen will learn from the experience of Hong Kong and Singapore, dissolve district governments and replace them with representative offices of the city government," Liu said at a conference of Guangdong's special economic zones.

The aim was to reduce the levels of government, he said.

The city government planned to implement a major reform of the administrative system within the next five years to build a "service-oriented" government.

Jin Xinyi, a Shenzhen political observer, welcomed the move.

"District-level governments cost money but do not provide much public service. It will be a great breakthrough if Shenzhen can really carry out the reform," said Jin, who has made suggestions for provincial development to Guangdong's Party chief Wang Yang.

Shenzhen had undergone seven rounds of government reforms over the past 28 years but inefficiency was still rampant.

"It is absolutely necessary for Shenzhen to carry out administrative reforms," said Le Zheng, Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences, who also said there were many inefficiencies.

It was the first time the provincial government had called a conference of special economic zones in the past 12 years. As the forerunner of China??s economic reform, Guangdong has three special economic zones: Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou.

Analysts say the provincial government is trying to have the special zones play a bigger role in the province's future growth.

Editor: Yan