BEIJING - A total of 32,041 redundant leader posts have been eliminated in the past three years, according to the top personnel department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Thursday.

The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee launched a campaign in January 2014 to cut redundant official positions, especially for leaders at or above the deputy county level.

The Department has sent strict orders since the 18th national congress of the CPC in 2012 that excessive official posts must be forbidden, and existing redundant chairs should be gradually reduced.

So far, 79.85 percent of the excessive positions at or above deputy county level have been eliminated, while half of the superfluous grassroots level official posts have also been streamlined.

The CPC Central Committee this year adopted a policy stipulating that incompetent officials be demoted while promoting highly qualified ones. Since then, official departments and public institutions have demoted or dismissed a large number of incompetent officials.