Ministry of Finance (China)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国财政部
Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Cáizhèngbù
Agency overview
Formed1949; 75 years ago (1949)
TypeConstituent Department of the State Council (cabinet-level executive department)
JurisdictionGovernment of China
HeadquartersBeijing
Minister responsible
Deputy Ministers responsible
Agency executives
Parent agencyState Council
Websitewww.mof.gov.cn Edit this at Wikidata
Ministry of Finance
Simplified Chinese中华人民共和国财政部

The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 中华人民共和国财政部; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Cáizhèngbù) is the constituent department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China which administers macroeconomic policies and the annual budget. It also handles fiscal policy, economic regulations and government expenditure for the state.

The ministry also records and publishes annual macroeconomic data on China's economy. This includes information such as previous economic growth rates in China, central government debt and borrowing and many other indicators regarding the economy of Mainland China.

The Ministry of Finance's remit is smaller than its counterparts in many other states. Macroeconomic management is primarily handled by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). State-owned industries are the responsibility of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and there are separate regulators for banking, insurance and securities. It also does not handle regulation of the money markets or interest rates. These, together with other aspects of monetary policy, are governed by the People's Bank of China (PBC), Mainland China's central bank. The Ministry, NDRC and PBC are equal in status, with their political heads all sitting on the State Council.

History[edit]

In 1969, during the Cultural Revolution, the State Council approved the consolidation of PBC's headquarters as a bureau within the Ministry of Finance.[1]: 38  Local PBC branches were merged into local government finance departments.[1]: 38  This effective demotion of the PBC lasted for a decade until August 1979, when the PBC was separated from the Ministry.[1]: 42 

In 2009, the Ministry of Finance converted its ownership of $200 billion of China Investment Corporation's debt into equity, a result which relieved CIC of interest payments on the special treasury bonds that had initially capitalized it and instead resulted in CIC paying an annual dividend to the Ministry.[1]: 110–111 

The Ministry of Finance has sought to implement property taxes since the early 2010s, but has been opposed on this issue by the National People's Congress and many local governments.[2]: 60–61  As of at least early 2024, property taxes have been kept off the legislative agenda.[2]: 60–61 

Role[edit]

The main functions of the Ministry of Finance is to carry out the following duties of the state:[3]

Number Main Function Description
1. Economic and public finance policies Formulating and implementing strategies, policies and guidelines for economic development, public finance for government revenue sharing between the central and provincial governments.
2. Administration of public finance and external debt Draft laws and regulations on public finance, financial, accounting management, external finance and debts.
3. Annual budget for Central People's Government Preparing the annual budget of the central government, priority spending, balancing the budget
4. Revenue and Tax legislation reforms Proposing tax legislation plans - reviewing proposals on tax legislation and tax revenue regulations.
5. Central People's Government expendituree Administering the central expenditures - procurement, expenses
6. Government Revenue distribution Formulating and implementing the policy of distribution between the state and government owned enterprises
7. Economic Development Expenditure Administering the central government expenditures for economic development, the appropriation for central government financed projects, and funds for technological innovation
8. Social Security Expenditure Managing the social security expenditures from the central government; formulating the accounting management rules on social security funds; monitoring the utilization of the social security funds.
9. Domestic government debts Formulating and implementing policies, rules and regulations on managing government's domestic debts; treasury bond issuance; formulating policies, rules and regulations on managing government's external debts
10. Accounting Regulations Formulating and implementing accounting regulations - for government and private corporations and promoting accountability and transparency.
11. Fiscal and Tax Policies Monitoring the implementation of fiscal and tax policies - laws and regulations, examining problems with the system and making changes.
12. Fiscal research and education Research into fiscal policy and education resources to the wider community.
13. Other Duties as Directed Undertaking other assignments of the State Council.

Organizational structure[edit]

Organizational structure obtained from the Ministry of Finance website:[3]

  • General Office
  • Policy & Programme Department
  • Legal Department
  • Tax Policy Department
  • Tariff Policy Department
  • Budget Department
  • Treasury Department
  • National Defense Department
  • Administrative & Law Enforcement Department
  • Education, Science & Culture Department
  • Economic Construction Department
  • Agriculture Department
  • Social Security Department
  • State Equity & Corporate Finance Department
  • Finance Department
  • International Department [4]
  • Accounting Regulatory Department
  • Supervision Department
  • State Rural Development Office
  • Personnel & Education Department

Leadership[edit]

All of the leaders are members of the Ministry's Communist Party Committee, with Lan Fo'an as its secretary.[5][6]

Position Name of Person
Minister Lan Fo'an
Head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's supervisory group Yang Guozhong
Vice Minister Zhu Zhongming
Vice Minister  Yu Weiping
Vice Minister Zou Jiayi
Vice Minister     Liao Min
Vice Minister Xu Hongcai
National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) Director General Liu Wei
Assistant Minister  Ou Wenhan

List of Finance Ministers[edit]

No. Name Transliteration Took office Left office
1 薄一波 Bo Yibo October 1949 September 1953
- 戎子和 (acting) Rong Zihe October 1952 September 1953
2 邓小平 Deng Xiaoping September 1953 June 1954
3 李先念 Li Xiannian June 1954 June 1970
4 殷承祯 Yin Chengzhen June 1970 January 1975
5 张劲夫 Zhang Jingfu January 1975 August 1979
6 吴波 Wu Bo August 1979 August 1980
7 王丙乾 Wang Bingqian August 1980 September 1992
8 刘仲藜 Liu Zhongli September 1992 March 1998
9 项怀诚 Xiang Huaicheng March 1998 March 2003
10 金人庆 Jin Renqing March 2003 August 2007
11 谢旭人 Xie Xuren August 2007 16 March 2013
12 楼继伟 Lou Jiwei 16 March 2013 7 November 2016
13 肖捷 Xiao Jie 7 November 2016 19 March 2018
14 刘昆 Liu Kun 19 March 2018 24 October 2023
15 蓝佛安 Lan Fo'an 24 October 2023 Incumbent

As shareholder[edit]

The MOF also acted as the controlling shareholder for a number of financial service companies of China, such as People's Insurance Company of China, China Life Insurance Group (parent of China Life), China Taiping Insurance Group (parent of China Taiping Insurance Holdings), etc. The Ministry also owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of Communications, China Great Wall Asset Management, China Cinda Asset Management, China Orient Asset Management, China Huarong Asset Management and China Re, etc.

MOF also owned China Railway, China Tobacco and CITIC Group.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Liu, Zongyuan Zoe (2023). Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances its Global Ambitions. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. doi:10.2307/jj.2915805. ISBN 9780674271913. JSTOR jj.2915805.
  2. ^ a b Li, David Daokui (2024). China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393292398.
  3. ^ a b Ministry Of Finance People's Republic Of China Archived 2007-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ The Ministry Finance, ed. (2014). The People's Republic of China National Report on Sustainable Development. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1-5007-8096-8.
  5. ^ "部领导 [Ministry Leadership]". Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  6. ^ "China Names Lan Fo'an as Party Chief of Finance Ministry". Bloomberg News. September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2023.

External links[edit]