Formed March 2003 Minister responsible Zhong Shan | Headquarters Beijing Parent agency State Council | |
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Preceding agency Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation Jurisdiction People's Republic of China | ||
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the Government of China, formerly Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (对外贸易经济合作部, MOFTEC) is an executive agency of the State Council of China. It is responsible for formulating policy on foreign trade, export and import regulations, foreign direct investments, consumer protection, market competition and negotiating bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. The current Commerce minister is Gao Hucheng.
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History
Before October 1949, the Ministry of Economic Affairs was the governing agency of the Republic of China 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 Communist Party of China 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 Co-operation.
In the spring of 2003, the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC) went through a reorganization and was renamed Ministry of Commerce.
The ministry also incorporates the former State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) and the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC).
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 Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, 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, 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.