Chinese city wants long speeches cut short

Beijing -  Authorities in a Chinese city are planning to cut long speeches of officials that often leave issues at hand undecided and others at meetings quite bored.

The proposal is being discussed at the 12th plenary session of the municipal committee of Guangzhou, the capital and largest city of China's Guangdong province, Xinhua reported.

Officials should limit their speeches to under an hour at key meetings and to less than 30 minutes in less important meetings, said Wan Qingliang, the municipal committee's secretary.

"Officials should refrain from dragging a meeting on for too long and today I set an example myself by finishing my speech at 58 minutes," he said.