National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration

The National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration is a deputy-cabinet level agency directly under the State Council of China. It is the national ombudsman office of the People's Republic of China.

The office has its roots in the Bureau of Letters and Calls, founded in 1977 under the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). A State Council equivalent was established in 1980, and both offices were merged in 1986. Further reforms led to the establishment of the National Bureau of Letters and Calls in 2000, which assumed its current name in 2016.

The office is responsible for hearing public complaints and proposals against various levels of government agencies nationwide. It is under the leadership of the Social Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee since March 2023. The current director of NPCPA is Li Wenzhang, one of the Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council.

History
In 1977, the Bureau of Letters and Calls was founded under the CCP General Office in order to overhaul the petitioning system of China. This was followed by the establishment of the Bureau of Letters and Calls of the General Office of the State Council in 1980. In 1986, both offices were merged, and further reforms led to the creation of the National Bureau of Letters and Calls in 2000, which was renamed to the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration in English in 2016.

In 2023, the Administration was placed directly under the State Council, previously being subordinate to its General Office. It was also placed under the "unified leadership" of the newly-established Social Work Department of the CCP.

Functions
The National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration is the main petitioning office of China, responsible for hearing public complaints and proposals against various levels of government agencies nationwide. In addition to the national level, the agency includes provincial, city and county-level offices.