BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- A total of 388 national-level trade associations have severed affiliation with the government since 2015, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Friday.

These trade associations have achieved organizational, functional, financial, and personnel independence from administrative organs, as was instructed by a 2015 plan to cut government-trade association links, according to the ministry who has been overseeing the process.

The plan, announced by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council in July 2015, said operational, financial, and personnel affiliation between the government and trade associations would be severed.

Some associations linked to government departments or public institutions would have to separate their staff, work, and property.

The move would give full play to the special functions and due advantages of trade associations in the "new normal" of economic development, according to the plan.

Some 428 national-level trade associations have submitted plans for achieving independence since 2015, said the ministry in a statement on Friday.

For the 40 associations that have not finished severing ties, efforts will be strengthened to guide them to achieve the separation as early as possible, according to the ministry.