It is a component of State Council in charge of highway and waterway transportation.

Its main responsibilities are:

(1) to draft the development strategy, guideline, policy, laws and regulations of highway and waterway industry and supervise its implement.

(2) to draft the development layout and medium and long term plan of highway and waterway industry and supervise its implement. To undertake the statistics and guiding info.

 (3) to coordinate and control the transport of national key materials and urgent transportation of passengers and cargoes. To organize and implement the construction of important highway and waterway transportation project.

 (4) to guide the economic system reformation of transportation industry; to maintain the system of equal competition of highway and waterway transportation; to lead the transportation industry to improve its structure and harmonious development.

(5)to organize the construction, maintenance and the collection of managing fees of highway and its facilities; To manage the vehicles’ maintenance and repair market, the driving schools and drivers’ training.

(6) to organize the construction, maintenance and collection of management fees of waterway infrastructure; To undertake safety supervision of waterway transportation, the inspection of the shipping and sea facilities, preventing shipping pollution, sea-sailing safeguard, succour and salvage, communication and navigation; to implement the shipping agency, sorting out foreign shipping, dredging the navigational course, managing the layout of coastal line of ports and harbor shipping facilities construction.

(7) to establish the scientific and technological policies, technical criterions and regulations of the transportation industry; to organize the important scientific and technological development and to promote technical improvement; to steer the higher education, adult education and vocational and technical training education.

(8) to undertake the management of personnel, labor wages and institutional establishment of the agencies of the Ministry; to administrate the chief leadership cadres of the units directly under the management of the department according to the regulations; to guide the staff’s team construction of the transportation industry. 

(9) To undertake the foreign affairs of inter-governmental transportation, to guide on utilization of foreign funds; to manage highway, waterway transportation and affairs related to international organizations, to carry out the economic and technological cooperation and communication of international transportation.

(10) To manage and guide the public safety of ports and shipping.

(11) To undertake other affairs distributed by the State Council.