National Development and Reform Commission

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is in charge of China’s macroeconomic planning. It is responsible for formulating and implementing strategies for national economic and social development and coordinating major economic operations. The NDRC submits a plan for national economic and social development to the National People's Congress each year on behalf of the State Council. It also oversees the National Energy Administration and State Grain and Reserves Administration.

 

The NDRC is responsible for monitoring macroeconomic trends and providing macroeconomic policy recommendations. It regulates investment projects of fixed assets in China. Major projects, including those with foreign funding, must receive NDRC approval.

 

The NDRC is responsible for guiding China’s economic restructuring, including managing pilot projects testing out new policies. It drafts strategies and plans for utilizing foreign investment, and is one of the lead agencies formulating China’s market access policies for foreign investment.

 

The NDRC also plays a leading role in crafting China’s industrial policy, aiming to balance and coordinate industrial development, including China’s development of high-tech industries. It also makes policies to promote sustainable development, such as plans for energy saving and emission reduction, recycling, environmental protection, and the promotion of clean industries.

 

The NDRC plays an important role in managing prices, controlling prices for important commodities. It also sets targets for overall import and export volumes of agricultural products, industrial products, and raw materials, and drafts plans for state commodity reserves.

 

It is also responsible for coordinating the development of regional economies in China, for example developing China’s western region, or revitalizing its northeastern rust belt.

 

In addition to economic development, the NDRC also drafts social development plans, touching on topics such as employment, income distribution, social security, healthcare, education, and urbanization.

 

In China’s March 2018 government restructuring, some functions of the NDRC were subsumed by other agencies. The newly established State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has assumed NDRC’s previous responsibilities for enforcement of the Anti-Monopoly Law and price supervision. The new Ministry of Natural Resources has assumed responsibility for creating development zones. The new Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) now handles approval of agricultural investment projects. NDRC’s climate change unit has been transferred to the Ministry of Ecological Environment (MEE). The new National Health Commission has assumed responsibility for pricing of medical and health services, and oversight of “key national projects” has been transferred to the National Audit Office.