Disclosed are a Pichia pastoris-derived translation elongation factor (TEF) promoter, a recombinant expression vector carrying the promoter and a heterologous protein encoding base sequence operably linked to the promoter, and a host cell transfected or transformed with the recombinant expression vector. Also, a method is provided for producing a heterologous protein. The method comprises culturing the host cell to express the Pichia pastoris-derived TEF promoter and isolating the promoter from the culture. The TEF promoter can be utilized for the mass production of heterologous proteins without the need for inducers.