[6] The office is a part of, and funded by, the Central People's Government (State Council) of China[7] and is not subject to Hong Kong jurisdiction.

On 3 July 2020, the State Council appointed Zheng Yanxiong as director of the organisation,[10] and Li Jiangzhou and Sun Qingye as deputy heads.

The hotel replaced by the OSNS was owned by China Travel Service (a tourism agency previously accused of assisting Chinese authorities in doxing local pro-democracy journalists and activists).

[18] After the office opened on 8 July 2020 amid tight security,[19] the building's floor plans were removed from publicly accessible records.

[25][26] Statutorily, the office is only to be granted jurisdiction in cases of complexity due to the presence of foreign or external elements, inability of the regional government to enforce the law, or a major and imminent threat to national security.

[26] However, the structuring of the approval process effectively means that the CPG can, since it also administers the OSNS, grant its organ jurisdiction at its own discretion, without legal interference from Hong Kong regional authorities.