The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM) is a cabinet-level executive agency of the

State Council of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the pr ...

. It is responsible for formulating policy on foreign trade, export and import regulations, foreign direct investments, consumer protection, market competition (

competition regulator A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law ...

) and negotiating bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. It is in charge of the administration of foreign trade pursuant to the Foreign Trade Law. The current Commerce minister is Wang Wentao.

History

Before October 1949, the Ministry of Economic Affairs was the governing agency of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

on the mainland responsible for economic trade issues. The agency was created in 1931 and reorganized in 1937. In November 1949, a month after the People's Republic of China was established, the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

formed the Ministry of Trade (贸易部) while the MOEA continued to operate in Taiwan and several other islands In August 1952, the Ministry was renamed to Ministry of Foreign Trade (对外贸易部). Ye Jizhuang was the first Minister and died in the post in 1967. In March 1982, the Ministry of Foreign Trade was merged with the Ministry of Foreign Economic Liaison (对外经济联络部), the State Import and Export Regulation Commission (国家进出口管理委员会), and the State Foreign Investment Regulation Commission (国家外国投资管理委员会), and became the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade (对外经济贸易部). In March 1993, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade was renamed to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (对外贸易经济合作部). In the spring of 2003, the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation went through a reorganization and was renamed Ministry of Commerce. The ministry also incorporates the former State Economic and Trade Commission and the State Development Planning Commission.

List of ministers

Departmental structure

The Ministry of Commerce is structured into the following departments:

MOFCOM and the CEPA

MOFCOM's responsibility includes fostering closer partnership between the economies of the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, Special Administrative Regions of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, respectively, with the economy of the rest of the People's Republic of China. To that end the Vice Minister An Min, and the previous Financial Secretary of Hong Kong,

Antony Leung Antony Leung Kam-chung GBS OBE JP (born 29 January 1952 in Hong Kong with family roots in Shunde, Guangdong) is a businessman who served as Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), from 29 May 2001 until ...

, concluded the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA). New agreements are continually negotiated between An and the current Financial Secretary John Tsang under the auspices of the CEPA. Similar agreements were also concluded between the MOFCOM and Secretariat for Economy and Finance of Macau.

References

External links

Ministry of Commerce of PRC Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Commerce Of The People's Republic Of China 2003 establishments in China Anti-dumping authorities Consumer organizations in China

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, natio ...

Ministries established in 2003 Regulation in China