Entity Type: PRC Party-State Agency

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China is a cabinet-level executive department of the State Council responsible for agriculture and rural affairs nationwide. Formed on March 19, 2018, superseding the former Ministry of Agriculture, the ministry gained additional responsibilities from agricultural investment projects previously managed by other government departments. In 2023, it absorbed the National Rural Revitalization Administration and gained rural science and technology functions from the Ministry of Science and Technology as part of broader government restructuring. The ministry handles China’s “three rural issues” (三农问题) — agriculture, rural areas, and farmers — managing fisheries, animal husbandry, farmland resources, irrigation, agricultural mechanization, and food safety. It houses the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group and oversees China’s rural vitalization strategy, reflecting the government’s prioritization of agricultural modernization and rural development. The ministry can play a role, as most offices, in conducting external propaganda and public diplomacy around key areas within its remit — including advertising China’s claimed achievements in rural development and poverty alleviation for developing nations in the Global South.

The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, or “MOFCOM,” serves as China’s primary state organ for domestic and international trade policy. Established in 2003 through institutional consolidation, MOFCOM merged the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation with select functions from the State Development Planning Commission and State Economic and Trade Commission.
The ministry’s extensive mandate encompasses both domestic commercial regulation and international economic diplomacy. Current Minister Wang Wentao (王文濤), appointed in 2020, oversees operations from the Beijing headquarters at 2 East Chang’an Street. MOFCOM’s institutional evolution reflects China’s economic transition – from centrally-planned trade apparatus (1952-1982) to market-oriented commercial governance. Key responsibilities include formulating trade policies, managing foreign investment approvals, conducting WTO negotiations, and coordinating anti-dumping investigations. The ministry also administers China’s foreign aid programs and oversees special economic zones. Recent organizational changes in 2018 transferred antitrust enforcement to market regulators and foreign aid coordination to the newly created National International Development Cooperation Agency, indicating ongoing institutional refinement within China’s economic governance structure.

Established in 2016, the China-South Asia and Southeast Asia Exchange Center (中國-南亞東南亞交流中心) operates under the China Public Diplomacy Association. The center organizes annual 10-month programs inviting journalists from South Asian and Southeast Asian countries to China for thematic reporting, media exchanges, and cultural experiences. Despite its active role in facilitating cross-cultural understanding and strengthening China’s ties with Belt and Road Initiative countries, the center maintains minimal public visibility, lacking an official website or social media presence. Its activities are primarily documented through Chinese state media coverage of diplomatic events and journalist exchanges.

The National Radio and Television Administration, or NRTA, was established in March 2018 as a ministry-level agency controlled by the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department. Headquartered in Beijing, it succeeded the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, with Director Cao Shumin (曹淑敏) appointed as its current head in May 2023. The organization maintains direct control over state broadcasters, including China Central Television, China National Radio, and China Radio International, while issuing content guidelines that have restricted everything from reality TV shows to historical dramas. The agency has expanded its international reach, signing a cooperation agreement with Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media in July 2021 on news coverage and media narratives. In June 2022, the NRTA and Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a code of conduct for online content creators that banned material that “weakens, distorts, or denies the leadership of the CCP.”

The Propaganda Office of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the CCP is the functional department of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee responsible for ideological work throughout the province. The department formulates and implements propaganda tasks, policies, and measures in accordance with central government directives and provincial party committee decisions. Led by a director who holds an ex officio seat on the Provincial Party Standing Committee, the office coordinates and guides all propaganda and cultural units in the province, overseeing media regulation, cultural activities, educational content, and internet information management. It ensures consistent messaging across all communication platforms, maintains narrative control, promotes the CCP’s ideological principles, and translates central directives into local implementation. As a key component in the party’s broader propaganda system, the department wields significant political influence in shaping public opinion and reinforcing party authority throughout Shaanxi.

The Internet Affairs Office of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the CCP serves as the provincial-level branch of China’s national cyberspace governance system. It functions as the executive arm of the Shaanxi Provincial Cyberspace Affairs Commission, operating under the “one institution with two names” system that characterizes China’s cyberspace administration bodies. The office is responsible for implementing internet censorship, cybersecurity measures, and information control policies within Shaanxi Province. Similar to its national counterpart, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), it coordinates internet information content management, supervision, and enforcement at the provincial level. The office director holds an ex officio seat on the Shaanxi Provincial Party Standing Committee, reflecting the importance of internet control in the Party’s governance structure. It reports to both the provincial party leadership and the central cyberspace authorities, ensuring that national directives on digital policy are implemented locally while addressing province-specific internet governance issues.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, established in May 2011 as the State Internet Information Office, functions as China’s powerful internet regulator and censor. Now serving as the executive arm of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (chaired by Xi Jinping), the CAC implements far-reaching censorship, regulates internet content, and oversees data security policies. Led by Zhuang Rongwen (庄榮文), who concurrently serves as a deputy head of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department (officially translated as “Publicity Department”), the agency exercises extensive powers through the 2016 Cybersecurity Law and 2021 Data Security Law. The CAC’s activities include censoring “rumors,” controlling cross-border data transfers, requiring pre-review of online comments, ensuring AI systems uphold Communist Party ideology, and maintaining majority ownership in the China Internet Investment Fund (中國互聯網投資基金), which holds stakes in major tech companies like ByteDance and Weibo through “golden shares.”