Established in 1903, the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC) was one of the, if not the pioneer trade organization founded at the turn of the twentieth century in this region. It has come a long way since its humble inception and is now one of the strongest commercial institutions in Malaysia in terms of membership and organizational and functional characteristic that is well recognized by both the public and private sectors. In year 2003, the Registrar of Society of Malaysia (ROS) presented the Award Certificate of Excellent Society to the Chamber. It has also been awarded the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System (QMS) Certificate in March 2006 and upgraded to ISO 9001:2008 QMS in March 2010.

The objectives of the Chamber as promulgated in its Rules & Constitution are as follows

1. to improve and develop trade and industry;
2. to collect, collate and disseminate commercial information and to issue certificates of authentication;
3. to arbitrate and settle trade and industrial disputes;
4. to collect and compile trade statistics;
5. to organize trade exibitions, seminars and human resource development programmes either on its own or in collaboration with other institution(s);
6. to support charitable, cultural and educational institutions.

The Chamber now has more than a thousand membership composed of individuals, corporations as well as commercial associations and trade guilds. The members of PCCC are from various business sectors, including enterprises, financial institutions, listed companies, housing & construction, garment & textiles, sole-agents & retailers etc.

Policy formulation and decision making at the highest level of PCCC are vested in a 51-member General Committee headed by a President assisted by a Deputy President and 3 Vice-Presidents. A 14-member Executive Committee elected from the ranks of the General Committee meet regularly to supervise the implementation of the policies and strategies formulated and planned by the latter while a permanent Secretariat takes charge of the day-to-day running of the Chamber's affairs.

There are 9 Working Committees and 3 Ad-Hoc Committees charged with various specific functional topics such as business development, small and medium enterprises & human resources development, economics, finance & taxation, housing & construction, infrastructure & public facilities, information technology, transport, logistics & customs, ASEAN-FTA business development, young entrepreneur section and etc. all geared towards complementing the Chamber's important role as a conduit for the exchange of views and information between the Authorities and business community and in promoting the interest of its members in particular and the economic well-being of the country in general.

The Chamber has great rapport with the Government at regional as well as national level through its direct affiliation to the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia and indirect connection with the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia. PCCC is officially represented at the following public bodies

• Penang Joint Chambers of Commerce
• National Consultative Panel of the Royal Custom
• Penang Local Government Consultative Forum
• Penang State Committee for Trade & Commerce
• Trade Promotion Within North ASEAN Region Committee
• Penang Island & P.W. Municipal Councils
• Penang Port Commission
• Penang Port Consultative Committee
• Penang Customs Liaison Committee
• E-Economy Working Group of K-ICT Council
• Penang Road Safety Committee
• Advisory Panel of Penang Heritage Steering Committee