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CCP, other ministries, and the military). The director of this office is currently Yang Jiechi—a Politburo member, former state councilor, and veteran diplomat. This body is the central coordinating body for China’s foreign affairs—across all bureaucracies—on
a daily basis.
While the Foreign Affairs Commission is the principal organization in the making and coordination of China’s overall foreign policy, the United Front Leading Small Group and the External Propaganda Leading Small Group also have important—but somewhat lower—status in the Chinese hierarchy. They are led, respectively, by the Politburo Standing Committee member in charge of ideology and propaganda and the head of the United Front Work Department. The Leading Small Group for United Front Work is located inside the CCP’s United Front Work Department and draws on UFWD personnel for staff work. The Leading Small Group for External Propaganda is subordinate to the CCP Leading Small Group for Propaganda and Ideology and
is required to seek guidance from the Foreign Affairs Commission, and it draws on the State Council Information Office (with which it has a dual role) for staff work. Both groups play an important role in the formulation of policy and coordination of
implementation in their respective sectors.
Conferences
Another important instrument in the coordination of policy is the Central or National Conferences that are convened to formulate and announce new policy objectives and mobilize the bureaucracy to implement these policies. Some of these conferences are convened more frequently and are more important than others. Four central or national conferences are held to coordinate foreign policy and external influence operations: the Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference, the External Propaganda Work Conference, the Central United Front Work Conference, and the National Overseas Chinese Work Conference. These are large gatherings that last two to three days and are attended by key central, provincial, and local leaders, as well as various ministries and the Chinese military. These conferences serve to provide overall policy direction to cadres working in that bureaucratic system (At) as well as to issue very specific annual
plans for the coming year’s activities.”
One measure of the importance of these conferences can be gauged by who gives the keynote speech. For example, Xi Jinping gave the keynote speeches at the Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference (2014 and 2018), the Central United Front Work
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