State Administration of Religious Affairs

(SARA, 国家宗教事务局，or simply 宗教局). Originally created in 1951 as the Religious Affairs Bureau, it is, or was, the body responding directly to the Chinese government and overseeing religion in China. In 2018, in connection with the new Regulation on Religious Affairs , it was announced that SARA will be disbanded and its competences transferred to the United Front, although pending the enactment of the corresponding regulation SARA remains temporarily in charge.