12. Ministry of Information Industry (MII)
| Minister: | Wang Xudong |
| Vice Ministers: | Xi Guohua Lou Qinjian Gou Zhongwen Jiang Yaoping |
| Address: | 13 Xi Chang'anjie, Beijing, PRC 100804 |
| Telephone: | 86-10-6601-4249 |
| Facsimile: | 86-10-6201-6362 |
| Website: | www.mii.gov.cn |
| Departments: | General Office; Policy and Law; Comprehensive Planning; Science and Technology; Economic Reform and Economic Operation; Telecommunication Management Bureau; Economic Coordination and Telecom Business Settlement; Electronic Information Product Management; Bureau of Special Electronic Equipment; Information Promotion; Radio Regulatory Bureau; Foreign Affairs; Personnel; CCP Committee; Bureau of Supervision, Inspection, and Discipline Supervision Group; Bureau of Retired Postal Workers; Bureau of Retired Electronics Department Officials; Bureau of Institutional Service I; Bureau of Institutional Service II |
MII was formed in March 1998 primarily through the merger of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPT) and the Ministry of Electronics Industry (MEI). MII regulates electronics and information product manufacturing and oversees telecommunications and software development. MII also is responsible for the regulatory functions of the former State Radio Regulatory Office and the former State Information Office. MII assumed the task of project planning for, and regulatory management of, China's radio and television (including cable) transmission networks, previously under the State Administration of Radio, Film & Television (SARFT). China Aerospace Industry Corp. ceded overall development planning of a satellite telecom network to MII when MII assumed COSTIND's responsibility for domestic coordination of satellite orbit arrangement. It also assumed the former SPC's control over the pricing of telecom services.
The creation of MII represented an attempt to divorce the regulatory and business arms of the former MPT, and to consolidate information technology regulation under a single authority. Though multiple new telecom providers have improved domestic competition, the consolidation of authority under MII has not lead to widespread liberalization in the sector, especially in the provision of telecom services.
A key area of bureaucratic wrangling focuses on the issue of convergence, as new technologies force overlap among competing bureaus. MII and SARFT have been in heated competition for control. Recent rumors focus on a State Council plan to create a "super" ministry that would encompass the regulatory responsibilities of both MII and SARFT, similar to the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. The creation of a single entity responsible for the regulation of all broadband networks in China could eliminate the bureaucratic rivalries that have stymied competition in telecom and threaten to delay convergence of services over telecom and cable networks.
Return to PART V: State Council 28 Ministries and Commissions