The Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission is a policy formulation and implementation body set up under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party for the purpose of managing cybersecurity and informatization, including internet censorship. This decision-making body comprises the leaders of all major party and state departments, along with the People's Bank of China and the military.[1]
中央网络安全和信息化委员会 | |
 | |
| Abbreviation | Zhongyang Wangxin Wei (中央网信委) |
|---|---|
| Formation | February 2014 |
| Type | Supra-ministerial policy coordination and consultation body |
| Legal status | Active |
| Headquarters | Beijing |
Leader | Cai Qi |
Chief of General Office | Zhuang Rongwen |
Parent organization | Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party |
| Subsidiaries | Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (with the external brand name Cyberspace Administration of China) |
| Website | www |
| Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中央网络安全和信息化委员会 | ||||||
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The Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission runs the Public Opinion Information Center, which coordinates with state media outlets on censorship.[2] The commission's executive arm is the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, which has the external name of the Cyberspace Administration of China under the "one institution with two names" system.[3][4][1]
History
editThe commission was originally established as the Central Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization (Chinese: 中央网络安全和信息化领导小组; pinyin: Zhōngyāng Wǎngluò Ānquán Hé Xìnxī Huà Lǐngdǎo Xiǎozǔ), also called the Cyberspace Affairs Leading Group. The decision to establish the group was announced at the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee in November 2013, but did not hold its first full meeting until February 2014.[5] The Leading Group was not a wholly new created entity, since it was primarily a reconstitution of the Leading Group for National Informatization, with a similar membership composition.[6]
In March 2018, the leading group was transformed into a commission, called the Central Cybersecurity and Informatization Commission, also called the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (CCAC).[7] According to the South China Morning Post, Cai Qi succeeded Xi as the head of the commission in early 2023.[8]
Membership
edit19th Committee
edit- Leader
- Xi Jinping (Politburo Standing Committee Member, Party General Secretary, State President)
- Deputy Leaders
- Li Keqiang (Politburo Standing Committee, Premier of the State Council)
- Director of the General Office
- Zhuang Rongwen, concurrently Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, deputy head of the Publicity Department, deputy director of the State Council Information Office (SCIO)
20th Committee
edit- Director
- Cai Qi (Politburo Standing Committee Member, First Secretary of the Secretariat)
- Director of the General Office
- Zhuang Rongwen, concurrently Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, deputy head of the Publicity Department, deputy director of the State Council Information Office (SCIO)
References
edit- ^ a b Horsley, Jamie P. (August 8, 2022). "Behind the Facade of China's Cyber Super-Regulator". Standford University. Archived from the original on 2023-09-09. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
- ^ Fedasiuk, Ryan (January 12, 2021). "Buying Silence: The Price of Internet Censorship in China". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-01-13. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
- ^ Cyberspace Administration of China launches official website Archived 2020-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, English.gov.cn, 31 Dec 2014
- ^ Web of Laws: How China's new Cyberspace Administration is securing its grip on the internet Archived 2019-06-20 at Archive-It, HKFP, by David Bandurski, 7 May 2017
- ^ "中央网络安全和信息化领导小组成立". Xinhua. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
- ^ Godement, Francois (July 2015). "Special issue: Governing the Web" (PDF). European Council on Foreign Relations. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
- ^ "CPC releases plan on deepening reform of Party and state institutions". People's Daily. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- ^ Zheng, William (28 March 2024). "Xi Jinping's chief of staff is China's new internet tsar, sources say". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 28 March 2024.