# International Department of the Chinese Communist Party

The International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, also known as the International Liaison Department (ILD), is an agency under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of establishing and maintaining relations with foreign political parties and other foreign organizations.

## History

The department was established in 1951, and was tasked with overseeing relations with foreign communist parties, especially the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc. The ILD's mandate became more important following the Sino-Soviet split, as the party began more aggressively seeking supporters for its position among communist parties operating overseas. Afterwards it maintained ties between the CCP and the Maoist parties around the world, often attempting to foment revolution abroad by funneling money and resources to left-wing and rebel groups.
In the 1980s under Deng Xiaoping, the ILD expanded its mission to include cultivating relations with non-communist parties, and shed its overtly revolutionary objectives. In 1981, the ILD established the Chinese Association for International Understanding. The ILD also operates the China Foundation for Peace and Development. In this era, the department sought to forge ties with "any foreign political party that was willing to meet with it."
With the end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union, the ILD's expanded mission of engaging with parties across the political spectrum became more important. Since the early 2000s, the ILD has increased its global outreach. According to scholar Anne-Marie Brady, the ILD is "tasked with gathering intelligence on foreign politicians and political parties, and developing asset relations with them."
In 2010, the ILD established the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS), a think tank serving on the secretariat of the Silk Road Think Tank Association, which aims to "enhance positive feelings" toward the Belt and Road Initiative.
The ILD has grown in importance under the Xi Jinping Administration as an instrument of the foreign policy of China. To advance Chinese-African party-to-party relations, the ILD and Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party finance the Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Tanzania.$^{:100–101}$ The school opened in February 2022 with US$40 million in funding and is a physical venue for political and diplomatic exchanges between the CCP and African ruling parties, particularly from Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.$^{:101–102}$

## Functions

The department is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s primary body tasked with conducting diplomacy through party-to-party channels.$^{:88}$ It plays a critical role in China's relations with other socialist one-party states, including North Korea and Vietnam. The ILD gathers intelligence on and influences foreign political parties, organizations, think tanks, and academics as well being tasked with finding ways to divide potential critics. As of 2019, it maintains relations with more than 600 political parties and organizations from over 160 countries.$^{:89}$

## Organization

The department has 14 offices, 8 of which are regional bureaus.$^{:89}$
Directors of the ILD:
* Wang Jiaxiang (1951 – March 1966)
* Liu Ningyi (acting; June 1966 – April 1968)
* Geng Biao (January 1971 – January 1979)
* Ji Pengfei (January 1979 – April 1982)
* Qiao Shi (April 1982 – July 1983)
* Qian Liren (July 1983 – December 1985)
* Zhu Liang (December 1985 – March 1993)
* Li Shuzheng (March 1993 – August 1997)
* Dai Bingguo (August 1997 – March 2003)
* Wang Jiarui (March 2003 – November 2015)
* Song Tao (November 2015 – June 2022)
* Liu Jianchao (June 2022 – present)