China To Set Up a New International Development Cooperation Agency

The National People’s Congress will vote Saturday on a proposal to set up a new national International Development Cooperation Agency:

Responsibility for the foreign assistance work of the Ministry of Commerce and the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the coordination of the functions of the members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been consolidated. The National Development and Cooperation Agency has been established as a direct agency of the State Council. The specific implementation of foreign aid is still undertaken by the department in charge of division of labor.

组建国家国际发展合作署。将商务部对外援助工作有关职责，外交部队员住协调等职责整合， 组建国家国际发展合作署，作为国务院直属机构。对外援助的具体执行工作仍由用关部门按分工承担。

This is a move long under discussion. As China’s aid has grown, this new agency directly under the State Council will enhance the profile of China’s assistance program, and give the agency equal standing with other agencies directly under the State Council. It will resemble Britain’s Department for International Development, which has similar standing, more than the US Agency for International Development, which is firmly under the US State Department.

a hat/tip to Sigrid Ekman in Beijing