| 中央外事工作委员会办公室 | |
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1981 (1981) |
| Type | Administrative agency of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission |
| Jurisdiction | Chinese Communist Party |
| Headquarters | Zhongnanhai,Beijing |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | Central Foreign Affairs Commission |
| Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中央外事工作委员会办公室 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中央外事工作委員會辦公室 | ||||||
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| Abbreviation | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中央外办 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中央外辦 | ||||||
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| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中央外事办 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中央外事辦 | ||||||
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TheOffice of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission is the administrative agency of theCentral Foreign Affairs Commission, a policy formulation body of theCentral Committee of theChinese Communist Party (CCP). It is the permanent body of the commission, and handles its day-to-day administrative operations.
On 6 March 1958, theCCP Central Committee and theState Council issued a joint notice on the establishment of the CCP Central Committee Foreign Affairs Group and the State Council Foreign Affairs Office. The CCP Central Committee International Activities Steering Committee was replaced with the Central Foreign Affairs Group. Vice Premier and Minister of Foreign AffairsChen Yi was appointed as the group leader, responsible for all foreign affairs. In the State Council, a corresponding State Council Foreign Affairs Office was established, with Chen Yi as the director andLiao Chengzhi,Liu Ningyi (Deputy Head of theInternational Department of the CCP Central Committee), Kong Yuan (Deputy Head of a certain department of the CCP Central Committee), and Zhang Yan (deputy director of the Premier's Office in charge of foreign affairs) as deputy directors. The office was responsible for the work of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Cultural Liaison Committee, and theOverseas Chinese Affairs Committee, and was also responsible for foreign trade policies.[1]
In September 1961, the Central Committee approved the establishment of a "Wives' Foreign Affairs Activities Guidance Group" under the State Council Foreign Affairs Office. The members were:Liu Xinquan (Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Personnel Department), Zhang Qian, Guo Jian (wife of Du Ganquan, deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Economic Relations),Gong Pusheng, Yu Peiwen, Hao Zhiping, Ding Xuesong (Head of the Secretary Group of the State Council Foreign Affairs Office), and Wu Qing. Kong Yuan was the convener of the group, and Zhang Qian was the deputy leader.[1] In October 1961, a national intelligence work conference was held with participants from theCentral Investigation Department, theMinistry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Intelligence Department of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, theGeneral Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, the Foreign Affairs Office of the State Council and the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.[1]
During theCultural Revolution, the Central Foreign Affairs Group was abolished. In June 1970, the State Council streamlined its institutions and abolished the State Council Foreign Affairs Office, with its operations incorporated into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[2][3] In 1981, the CCP Central Committee decided to restore the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group withLi Xiannian as group leader andWan Li as deputy group leader.[4] In 1988, according to theState Council Institutional Reform Plan adopted at the first session of the7th National People's Congress, the State Council Foreign Affairs Office was established to take charge of the specific affairs of the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group.[5] In August 1998, the CCP Central Committee and the State Council decided to abolish the State Council Foreign Affairs Office and establish the Central Foreign Affairs Office. The Central Foreign Affairs Office, as the office of the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group, was included in the sequence of agencies directly under the CCP Central Committee.[6][7]
In September 2000, the CCP Central Committee decided to establish the Central National Security Leading Group to work together with the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group, withJiang Zemin as the group leader,Qian Qichen as the deputy group leader, andLiu Huaqiu as the director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group and the Office of the Central National Security Leading Group.[4][7] In the second half of 2012, the central government established the Central Leading Group for Ocean Rights and Interests to be responsible for the discussion and coordination of ocean rights and interests affairs. The Central Leading Group for Ocean Rights and Interests established an office, the Central Leading Group for Ocean Rights and Interests Office, which is co-located with the Central Leading Group for Foreign Affairs Office.[8] After the establishment of theCentral National Security Commission in 2014, the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group no longer retained the name of the Central National Security Leading Group. The Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group also no longer retained the name of the Office of the Central National Security Leading Group.
The Plan forDeepening the Reform of the Party and State Institutions issued by the CCP Central Committee in March 2018 stated that the Central Leading Group for Foreign Affairs would be upgraded to the Central Foreign Affairs Commission.[9] The plan also stipulated: "There will no longer be a central leading group for safeguarding maritime rights and interests. In order to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, better coordinate the resources and strength of diplomatic and foreign affairs departments and maritime-related departments, the work of safeguarding maritime rights and interests will be included in the overall planning and deployment of the central foreign affairs work. There will no longer be a central leading group for safeguarding maritime rights and interests. The relevant responsibilities will be entrusted to the Central Foreign Affairs Commission and its office. An office for safeguarding maritime rights and interests will be set up within the office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission." "After the adjustment, the main responsibilities of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission and its office in safeguarding maritime rights and interests are to organize, coordinate, guide and urge all relevant parties to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee on safeguarding maritime rights and interests, collect, summarize, analyze and judge intelligence information related to national maritime rights and interests, coordinate responses to emergencies, organize research on major issues in safeguarding maritime rights and interests and put forward countermeasures and suggestions, etc."[10]
The Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission is its administrative agency, operating secretively like its parent body.[11] The Office is responsible for executing and coordinating the implementation of the decisions and directives of the commission. It additionally conducts research and makes suggestions on international relations, drafts and oversees foreign-related laws and regulations, handles foreign-related inquiries from Party, state and local bodies, and organizes work on maritime rights and interests.[11] Though the office itself is a ministerial-level institution, the director of the Office has been a member of the Politburo and at thedeputy national-level leader.[11] Generally, the director has greater authority than theMinister of Foreign Affairs.[12]: 77–78 The director of the commission's Office, currentlyWang Yi, is the top diplomat of the People's Republic of China.[13]