The China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC) is a national non-governmental organization founded with the approval of the state in July 1949, three months before the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Its mission is to unite and serve writers and artists, to train literary and art talents, and to promote the development and prosperity of literature and arts.

The CFLAC National Congress is held every five years. A national committee is formed through election, and the national committee elects a presidium (including one president, several vice-presidents, and presidium members). Guo Moruo (1892-1978), Zhou Yang (1908-89), Cao Yu (1910-96), Zhou Weizhi (1916-2014) and Sun Jiazheng served successively as the presidents of CFLAC, and the current president is Tie Ning. Under the presidium, there is a secretariat to handle the CFLAC’s dailyoperations.

CFLAC practices group membership. Currently, it has 55 group members, including 14 national associations of writers and artists (of which China Writers Association is an independent administrative organization), 32 provincial group members (which are made up of provincial associations of writers and artists and a number of prefectural, municipal and county-level federations) and nine national federations of enterprise (trade) nature.

The major functions of CFLAC are to enhance the unity of artists, establish networks through coordination and professional guidance, undertake membership administration, promote self-discipline, safeguard the rights and interests of artists and provide necessary services .

The major undertakings of CFLAC: Holding professional art festivals and non-profit literary and art activities; running competitions, review and research activities of literary and art circles; organizing writers and artists going into the thick of life for creation; providing voluntary services, training literary and art professionals; safeguarding and protecting the legal rights and interests of writers and artists; and launching international cultural exchanges and the cultural exchanges with the regions of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.