Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China

The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China is a component department of the State Council, in charge of domestic and foreign trade and international economic cooperation in China. It undertakes the important responsibilities of formulating and implementing policies on domestic and foreign economic and trade affairs and promoting the expansion of opening up to the outside world. The predecessor of the Ministry of Commerce can be traced back to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, established in 1952, and the Administration of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, established in 1961. In 1982, these two entities merged with the Import and Export Commission and the Foreign Investment Commission to form the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. In 1993, it was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. In 2003, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation was restructured and merged with some functional departments of the former State Planning Commission and th