National Ethnic Affairs Commission

History

In 1949, the Ethnic Affairs Commission of the Central People's Government (中央人民政府民族事务委员会) was established. In 1954, the Ethnic Affairs Commission of the Central People's Government was renamed the Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国民族事务委员会). The PRC Ethnic Affairs Commission was abolished in 1970. The State Ethnic Affairs Commission of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国国家民族事务委员会) was established. Since 1978, it has been a constituent department of the State Council.

The National Ethnic Affairs Commission was put under the leadership of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in March 2018 as part of the deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions. The National Ethnic Affairs Commission remains as a constituent department of the State Council.

On August 31, 2020, according to the National Development and Reform Commission's "Implementation Opinions on Comprehensively Pushing Forward the Reform of Delinking Trade Associations and Administrative Organs", the China Association of Ethnic Folk Crafts and Arts Artists, the China Ethnic Economy Promotion Association for Foreign Cooperation, and the National Association of Ethnic Secondary Education, formerly under the supervision of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, were separated from the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.

In 2022, the NEAC launched a publication called DeepChina and its domestic Chinese edition Dao Zhonghua () to conduct "public opinion struggle" and "cognitive warfare" in support of the CCP's ethnic policies. In 2025, the State Council granted NEAC authority to design and pilot a new and explicitly "political" ethnographic field of study at 15 universities that emphasizes "community" between Han and non-Han ethnicities in mainland China.

Organization

According to the Provisions on the Functional Configuration, Internal Organizations and Staffing of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission and the Approval of the Central Editorial Office on Adjusting the Organizational Establishment of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, the NEAC has set up the following organizations:

Internal Organizations

• General Office
• Division of Coordination and Promotion
• Division of Theory and Research
• Division of Policies and Regulations
• Division of Promotion of National Unity
• Division of Joint Development
• Division of Culture and Publicity
• Division of Education
• Division of International Exchange (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Office)
• Division of Personnel
• Division Party Committee of Organizations
• Bureau of Retired Cadres

Directly Affiliated Organizations

• Public Opinion Center (舆情中心)
• Ancient Book Processing and Research Office (古籍整理研究室)
• Organization Service Center (Organization Service Bureau)

Directly Affiliated Cultural institutions

• Central Academy for Ethnic Cadres (中央民族干部学院)
• China Nationalities Language Translation Center (China Nationalities Language Translation Bureau)
• China National Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble
• Publishing House of Minority Nationalities
• Journal of National Unity
• Cultural Palace of Nationalities
• China Ethnic Museum
• China Ethnic Newspaper

Directly Affiliated Higher Education Institutions

• Central University for Nationalities
• South–Central Minzu University
• Southwest University for Nationalities
• Northwest University for Nationalities
• North Minzu University
• Dalian Minzu University

Directly Affiliated Enterprise Units

• China National Culture Publishing House Ltd.

Leadership

References

References

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6. (2007). "中国少数民族教育". 五洲传播出版社.
7. Joske, Alex. (May 9, 2019). "Reorganizing the United Front Work Department: New Structures for a New Era of Diaspora and Religious Affairs Work".
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9. (2018-03-21). "党和国家机构改革｜中央统战部统一管理民族宗教等工作".
10. (2018-09-10). "国家民委"三定"规定调整：归口中央统战部领导".
11. (2023-10-30). "关于全面推开行业协会商会与行政机关脱钩改革的实施意见_部门政务_中国政府网".
12. (2023-10-30). "关于做好全面推开全国性行业协会商会与行政机关脱钩改革工作的通知_部门政务_中国政府网".
13. "'DeepChina' Substack exposed: covert United Front 'opinion and cognitive warfare' project targets international China scholars (Collective Study Issue 04)".
14. Chen, Meredith. (2025-04-26). "China expands initiative to stamp out Western bias in ethnic studies".
15. "国务院办公厅关于印发国家民族事务委员会职能配置内设机构和人员编制规定的通知".