China’s Ministry of Public Security recently released an updated list of approved Professional Supervisory Units (PSUs) for foreign NGOs seeking to register a representative office in mainland China. The 2019 list (which the China NGO Project has translated) is the first update to the original list released in December 2016. It includes a number of new potential PSUs and several changes to possible fields of work. The new list also reflects changes to agencies’ names and functions as part of a larger government restructuring announced in March 2018.
The table below includes all PSUs on the 2019 list (along with any relevant descriptions of name or functional changes as a result of the government restructuring). Above the table is a list of entities that are not on the 2019 list of approved PSUs but that are serving as PSUs to a/multiple foreign NGOs, according to information on the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) website as of July 15, 2019.
All PSUs in the table and list below are listed by the highest-level entity in the functional hierarchy, or xitong, to which it belongs. (For example, the Hunan Office of Foreign Affairs (湖南省人民政府外事办公室) currently serves as a PSU while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外交部) does not; however, we have listed just the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as it is the highest-level entity of the foreign affairs xitong.) This mirrors the language that the MPS itself uses in the 2019 PSU list, naming a central-level entity “as well as relevant departments of provincial people’s governments.”
Xitongs (functional hierarchies) serving as PSUs that are not included in the MPS’ 2019 list:
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外交部)
- All-China Youth Federation (中华全国青年联合会)
- Chinese Association for International Understanding† (中国国际交流协会)
- Shanghai Institutes for International Studies† (上海国际问题研究院)
- State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (国务院台湾事务办公室)
- Communist Youth League of China (中国共产主义青年团)
- State Council Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (国务院港澳事务办公室)
Xitongs (Functional Hierarchies) that Can Serve as Professional Supervisory Units, per MPS 2019 List
*At the provincial level, the corresponding entities are called “Economy and Informatization Commissions.”
†Does not have corresponding local offices (if a national-level entity) or does not have a corresponding national office (if a local entity).
‡At the provincial level, the corresponding entities are called “Administrations of Quality and Technical Supervision.”
This information was compiled from National People’s Congress Observer, research by Yiqin Fu, Sohu, and Xinhua.