Established in May 2011, was a subordinate office under State Council Information Office (SCIO).

Since April 2014, the CAC has been operating under the direct supervision of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs (中共中央网络安全和信息化领导小组办公室) (which has been elevated to the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (中共中央网络安全和信息化委员会办公室) after China's 2018 government institutional reform, see Practice Note, Understanding the 2018 government institutional reform: China).

The CAC is in charge of cyberspace security and internet content regulation, major functions are directing, coordinating and supervising online content management and handling administrative approval of businesses related to online news reporting.

The CAC is the enforcement agency for the internet content provision sector. Some of the internet related administration functions of SCIO were transferred to the CAC also in April 2014, including issuing and administering the licences for providing internet news information and the licences for foreign institutions and their China subsidiaries to provide financial information services. The CAC is also known as the State Internet Information Office (SIIO).