The position reports directly to the head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLC) of the Chinese Communist Party.

All ministers of state security have held the position as civilians, they are each awarded the police rank of Commissioner General.

In 2022, Chen Wenqing became the first outgoing minister of state security to be promoted directly to leader of the CPLC, whose oversight portfolio includes the MSS, while incoming minister Chen Yixin became dual hatted, retained his previous position as the third rank position of Secretary-General of the CPLC, in addition to leading the MSS.

[4][2] Officially, the minister is nominated by the premier of the State Council, who is then approved by the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee and appointed by the president.

New ministers of state security are selected periodically, with recent ministers each being formally elected to the CCP Central Committee during iterations of the CCP National Congress held every five years, though such decisions are normally made in secret at the Beidaihe meeting held each August in Beidaihe, Hebei to litigate and preplan the upcoming years decisions.