Does "the precursor" here mean "the predecessor"?

Context:

Calculations of premature deaths because of outdoor air pollution are
politically threatening in the eyes of some Chinese officials. According to
news reports, Chinese officials cut out sections of a 2007 report called “
Cost of Pollution in China” that discussed premature deaths. The report’s
authors had concluded that 350,000 to 400,000 people die prematurely in
China each year because of outdoor air pollution. The study was done by the
World Bank in cooperation with the Chinese State Environmental Protection
Administration, the precursor to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.