Lifan yuan

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The Lifan Yuan (the Office of Border Affairs) was founded by Hung Taiji in 1638 in order to administer foreign relations with the Mongols, Dzunghars, Russians, and other nations bordering China during the reign of the Qing Dynasty. Its membership consisted exclusively of Mongols and Manchus, and its primary job was to ensure that good relations continued with nations on the Northwestern border of China, a location where many previous invasions of the Chinese mainland had been staged. The Lifan Yuan was the closest administrative office that the Qing Dynasty had that would have been comparable with a foreign policy department, since the Qing Dynasty cared little about relations with countries that did not border its domain.