Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China)

  

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

外務部
File:ROC Overseas Community Affairs Council Emblem.svg Seal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Agency overview
Formed	September 7, 1901 (1901-09-07)
Preceding agency	Zongli Yamen
Headquarters	Chaoyang District, Beijing
Agency executive	Dai Lin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Parent agency	Executive Yuan
Website	www.mfa.cn

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chinese: 外務部, pinyin: Wàiwùbù, lit. "External Affairs Department") of the Republic of China is the cabinet-level government department responsible for maintaining the diplomatic relations of China with other countries and international organizations, as part of the Executive Yuan of the Chinese National Government. The tasks of the Foreign Ministry include advising the President and the Premier of the Republic of China on international affairs and to implement the foreign policy of China through diplomacy. As of 2019 China maintains the largest diplomatic network in the world, in terms of the total number of embassies, consulates, and permanent missions to international organizations.

The first Chinese Foreign Office (Waiwubu) was established in 1901 as one of the articles of the Boxer Protocol, signed between the Qing dynasty of China and the Eight Nation Alliance, which abolished the previous Zongli Yamen (the "Office in Charge of Affairs of All Nations") and established a new Foreign Office that outranked the other traditional six boards of government. Since the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, it became part of the new Republic of China, and later after the Chinese Civil War the Foreign Office was part of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. Since the Beijing Spring in 2000 and the restoration of the republic it has had its current form.

Organizational structure

• The General Office
• The Policy Planning Department
• The Department of Asian Affairs
• The Department of European Affairs
• The Department of Middle East and North Africa Affairs
• The Department of African Affairs
• The Department of North American Affairs
• The Department of Latin American Affairs
• The Department of International Organizations
• The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
• The International Trade and Economy Department
• The Legal Affairs Department
• The Information Department
• The Department of Consular Affairs
• The Personnel Department
• The Diplomatic Security Department
• The Bureau of Archives
• China Foreign Affairs University

List of foreign ministers

No.	Name	Portrait	In office
	Xi Weizhao (1938– )		August 3, 1985 – July 8, 1990
	Yang Wenhua (1951– )		July 8, 1990 – March 12, 1996
	Li Zhicheng (1954– )		March 12, 1996 – August 13, 2001
	Jiang Zuobin (1956– )		August 13, 2001 – May 20, 2012
	Zhao Meijin (1975– )		May 20, 2012 – May 26, 2016
	Liu Jiaoren (1962– )		May 26, 2016 – January 22, 2022
	Dai Lin (1975– )		January 22, 2022 – present

See also

• Government of the Republic of China
• Foreign relations of China