BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- China is planning to simplify the government service hotline system to improve service efficiency and quality.

According to a guideline issued by the General Office of the State Council, the country will cancel or merge several existing service hotlines by the end of 2021.

Hotlines that are not dialed frequently will be integrated into the unified service hotline "12345", which will serve as a gateway for callers to contact specific service departments. Manual service will be available around the clock through the week.

Hotlines with a large number of callers will be retained alongside emergency phone lines, according to the guideline.

The guideline urges departments to categorize the existing hotlines, push forward hotline simplification in an orderly fashion and maintain service quality.