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59-634: The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a unitary communist state , in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's congresses. This system is based on the principle of unified state power , in which the legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), is constitutionally enshrined as "the highest state organ of power." As China's political system has no separation of powers , there

118-439: A socialist legal system , and in consolidating public resolve to carry out the modernization program. The constitution states that the interests of the people and the party are paramount over the interests of party members. The constitution states that in emergencies and urgent situations, members are encouraged to contribute to special funds (as in the case of the special fund for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake ). Since 1945,

177-474: A central role in lawmaking, which has fluctuated over time. The CCP effectively sits above any legal code and the constitution of the People's Republic of China . CCP principles and slogans are codified into the state's legal code to increase the legitimacy of party rule. The role of the CCP in lawmaking increased under CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping 's tenure. Through a variety of documents circulated within

236-432: A policy approach that combined centralized leadership with intense mass mobilization, and that this mode of governance is defined by continuous experimentation and improvisation. According to academics Jérôme Doyon and Chloé Froissart, the adaptive capacity resulting from a heritage of guerrilla warfare has made the CCP adept in dealing with uncertainty and has translated into a capacity to experiment first and then systemize

295-579: A two-thirds majority in the NPC. The remaining seats are held by nominally independent delegates and eight minor political parties , which are non- oppositional and support the CCP. All government bodies and state-owned enterprises have internal CCP committees that lead the decision-making in these institutions. The NPC meets annually for about two weeks in March to review and approve major new policy directions, and in between those sessions, delegates its powers to

354-567: Is assisted by several vice premiers , currently four, each of them overseeing a certain area of administration. The premier, vice premiers and the State Councilors collectively form the inner cabinet that regularly convenes for the State Council Executive Meeting. The State Council includes 26 constituent ministries, and officially oversees the provincial-level governments throughout China. Generally,

413-578: Is only one branch of government which is represented by the legislature. The CCP through the NPC enacts unified leadership, which requires that all state organs, from the Supreme People's Court to the President of China , are elected by, answerable to, and have no separate powers than those granted to them by the NPC. By law, all elections at all levels must adhere to the leadership of the CCP. The CCP controls appointments in all state bodies through

472-487: Is the general fiscal budget, which is a unitary budget that is allocated between central fiscal and local fiscal budgets. The central government sets targets for its fiscal revenue and expenditures, as well as local government fiscal revenue and expenditures. System of people%27s congress According to the PRC constitution , all power belongs to the people, and National People's Congress and local people's congresses are

531-410: Is the highest force for political leadership. The party's institutions overlap with government institutions and the party has authority over government decisions at both the local and central levels. Senior government officials throughout the country are appointed by the CCP, and are mostly CCP members. All government departments, state-owned enterprises and public institutes include CCP committees, from

590-618: The Chinese economic reform , China has been characterized by a high degree of political centralization but significant economic decentralization. The central government sets the strategic direction while local officials carry it out, including developing the details of policy. Academics Sebastian Heilmann and Elizabeth Perry write that policy-making in China is influenced by the Chinese Communist Revolution , resulting in

649-675: The Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square , Beijing . These annual meetings are usually timed to occur with the meetings of the CPPCC, providing an opportunity for the officers of state to review past policies and present future plans to the nation. The NPC generally has a reputation of approving the work of the State Council and not engaging in overmuch drafting of laws itself. However, it and its Standing Committee have occasionally asserted themselves. For example,

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708-703: The chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference , the secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection , the party's top anti-graft body, and the first-ranked secretary of the CCP secretariat have consistently also been members of the Politburo Standing Committee. Ranked below the party's Politburo Standing Committee are deputy state leaders including the party's chief staff, vice premiers, and

767-631: The CCP "must boldly experiment with new methods, ... review new experience and solve new problems, and enrich and develop Marxism in practice." The CCP's 16th National Congress in November 2002 included the incorporation of the Three Represents . The CCP's 18th National Congress in November 2012, saw the inclusion of the concept of ecological civilization . The CCP's 19th National Congress in October 2017 ratified amendments including

826-478: The CCP's Politburo Standing Committee . China's judicial organs are political organs that perform prosecutorial and court functions. Because of their political nature, China does not have judicial independence . China's courts are supervised by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), which answers to the NPC. The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) is responsible for prosecutions and supervises procuracies at

885-533: The CCP, and effectively acts as the state arm of the CCDI. It replaced the former Ministry of Supervision . The Supreme People's Court is the judicial organ of the People's Republic of China and is subject to the control of the CCP's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission . Hong Kong and Macau , as special administrative regions, have separate judicial systems based on British common law traditions and Portuguese civil-law traditions, respectively. The judges of

944-692: The CCP, the party directs China's lawmaking organs such as the NPC Standing Committee in the lawmaking process. Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party has 55 articles and its contents describe the program of the party, as well as its organizational structure and party symbolism. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s 1945 constitution described Mao Zedong Thought as

1003-619: The Central People's Government, consists of, besides the Premier, a variable number of vice premiers , five state councilors (protocol equal of vice premiers but with narrower portfolios), the secretary-general , and 26 ministers and other cabinet-level department heads . It consists of ministries and agencies with specific portfolios. The State Council presents most initiatives to the NPCSC for consideration after previous endorsement by

1062-699: The General Secretary of the Central Committee must also be a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee. The membership of the PSC is strictly ranked in protocol sequence . Historically, the general secretary (or party chairman ) has been ranked first; the rankings of other leaders have varied over time. Since the 1990s, the general secretary (also the president), premier, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee ,

1121-519: The General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, the top leader in the one-party system. The office is officially regarded as an institution of the state rather than an administrative post; theoretically, the president serves at the pleasure of the National People's Congress, the legislature, and is not legally vested to take executive action on its own prerogative. The current president is Xi Jinping, who took office in March 2013. The office

1180-515: The NPC at around 3,000. The total number of people's congresses throughout China at different levels is over 40,000, and the total number of deputies is in the hundreds of thousands. Nominations at all levels are controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the CCP's supreme position is enshrined in the state constitution, meaning that the elections have little way of influencing politics. The CCP, through its control of

1239-474: The NPC itself and has vetoed proposed laws. The CCP Politburo Standing Committee consists of the government's top leadership. Historically it has had five to nine members. As of 2024, it has seven members. Its officially mandated purpose is to conduct policy discussions and make decisions on major issues when the Politburo, a larger decision-making body, is not in session. According to the CCP's constitution,

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1298-526: The NPC, the vice president has no power other than what the president bestowed on them but assists the president. The head of the State Council , the NPC's executive organ, is the premier . The CCP general secretary is China's leading official since the CCP is tasked with formulating and setting national policy which the state, after being adopted by the NPC or relevant state organ, is responsible for implementing. The State Council, also referred to as

1357-405: The People's Republic of China is put in practice through its comprehensive control of the state, military, and media. The National People's Congress (NPC) is the national legislature of China. With 2,977 members in 2023, it is the largest parliamentary body in the world. Under China's current Constitution, the NPC is structured as a unicameral legislature , with the power to legislate, to oversee

1416-603: The Presidency was gone. The 3rd promulgation in 1978 expanded the number of articles, but was still under the influence of the very-recent Cultural Revolution . The current constitution is the PRC's fourth promulgation, declared on 4 December 1982, and has served as a stable constitution for 30 years. The legal power of the CCP is guaranteed by the PRC Constitution and its position as the supreme political authority in

1475-475: The State Council and the CCP were unable to secure passage of a fuel tax in 2009 to finance the construction of expressways . Likewise, the Ministry of Finance has sought to institute property taxes since the early 2010s, but opposition from the NPC (as well as local governments) have prevented any property tax proposals from reaching the NPC's legislative agenda. The NPC Standing Committee is more assertive than

1534-496: The Supreme People's Court are appointed by the National People's Congress. The governors of China's provinces and autonomous regions and mayors of its directly administered municipalities are appointed by the State Council after receiving the nominal consent of the National People's Congress (NPC). The Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions (SARS) have significant local autonomy including separate governments, legal systems, and basic constitutional laws, but must follow

1593-452: The ability to exercise social control and regulation, (3) coercive resources, (4) the capacity to consult and collaborate with emerging social groups and organizations to balance conflicting interests, and (5) the ability to learn from failures and mistakes. China's fiscal budget has four parts: general fiscal budget, budget for government funds, budget for operating income of state-owned capital, and social insurance budget. The largest part

1652-411: The amendments, with the amended constitution naming the CCP as the "supreme political leadership force". The Two Upholds was added, thereby cementing the " core " status of Xi Jinping. The constitution states that Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought are the party's official ideology. The constitution emphasizes the party's role in promoting socialist democracy , in developing and strengthening

1711-514: The articles at the 13th National Congress in November 1987 and in the General Program and some of the articles at the 14th National Congress in October 1992, and a few revisions were made in the General Program at the 16th National Congress of the CCP in November 2002. The constitution can be amended once every five years. The 1992 revision of the constitution noted the importance of policy experimentation, incorporating language that

1770-619: The authority of government departments is defined by regulations and rules rather than law. The State Council issues regulations on the forms of official government and CCP documentation which govern the level of authority, urgency, and confidentiality required by the document. Official documents include ones which must be strictly implemented by lower levels of government (such as "Decisions" and "Orders"), ones which can be treated more flexibly (such as "Opinions" and "Notices"), and ones with less or more general content (such as "Letters" and "Minutes"). The Central Military Commission (CMC) exercises

1829-540: The bodies through which the people exercise state power. The NPC is officially China's highest organ of state power , with the Standing Committee being its permanent body. The People's Congress System was set out in the Electoral Law of 1953 and has been subsequently revised. Currently, there are five levels of people's congresses. From more to less local, they are: Direct elections occur at

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1888-487: The central government allowed local governments to issue bonds to finance public capital spending for projects like infrastructure and hospitals. The quantity of such bonds is set by the central government. Local governments cannot issue bonds to pay for current spending, such as salaries. China's civil service is divided into tiers. The highest tiers (including department chiefs, deputy department chiefs, and section chiefs) have significant involvement in policy-making. After

1947-479: The central government in foreign policy and national security , and their chief executives are effectively picked by the CCP Politburo. Below the provincial level, there are prefectures and counties. Counties are divided into townships and villages . While most are run by appointed officials, some lower-level jurisdictions have direct elections. While operating under strict control and supervision by

2006-424: The central government, China's local governments manage relatively high share of fiscal revenues and expenditures. Their level of authority and autonomy in economic decision-making is high, and they have played a major role in national economic development. They do not have the right to make tax laws but may have the ability to adjust certain tax rates within boundaries established by the central government. Through

2065-615: The cost of providing public goods has devolved to local governments from the central government and therefore local governments need to generate fees to provide public services. Local governments are the key provider of public of goods in China. Since 2014, the National New-Type Urbanization Plan has resulted in the consolidation of planning processes that were formerly distributed across different bureaucracies, such as urban and rural land use, tourism planning, and environmental planning. Beginning in 2015,

2124-406: The direction of local policy experiments or pilot programs. The typical approach is that central government leadership begins drafting formal policies, law, or regulations after policy has been developed at local levels. China has a high degree of state capacity . Academic Thomas Heberer attributes China's state capacity to: (1) the legitimacy of its political system as viewed by its citizens, (2)

2183-576: The government and party hierarchies. Power is concentrated in the "paramount leader," an informal title currently occupied by Xi Jinping, who heads the four most important political and state offices: He is the general secretary of the CCP Central Committee , Chairman of the Central Military Commission , and President of the PRC. Near the end of Hu Jintao's term in office, experts observed growing limitations to

2242-595: The government and the CCP, James Palmer, writing for Foreign Policy , states that, "[t]he Chinese government is essentially the shadow of the Communist Party, moving as the party does, and consequently government roles matter far less than party ones." According to The Economist , "[e]specially when meeting foreigners, officials may present name cards bearing government titles but stay quiet about party positions which may or may not outrank their state jobs." According to scholar Rush Doshi , "[t]he Party sits above

2301-408: The incorporation of Xi Jinping Thought . Xi Jinping thus became the first leader since Deng Xiaoping to append his name into party ideology; the change also led to many international media outlets calling Xi the "most powerful leader since Mao." The Belt and Road Initiative was also added to the party constitution. The CCP's 20th National Congress in October 2022 saw several amendments to

2360-428: The late 1980s and the early 1990s, the municipal government regulatory mechanisms expanded, as did their capacity to regulate peri-urban areas. The 1994 fiscal reforms resulted in the need of local governments to generate non-tax revenue, which they did in the form of revenues through land development and use fees. This resulted in their increase in both administrative size and geographic size. From 2002 to at least 2023,

2419-513: The main deliberative bodies of China, and are often referred to as the Two Sessions . Aside from the CCP, eight minor political parties participate, but are non- oppositional and have no real power. They must accept the primacy of the CCP to exist and their members are preapproved by the CCP's United Front Work Department . The NPC, elected for a term of five years, holds annual sessions every spring, usually lasting from 10 to 14 days, in

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2478-555: The nomination process, ensures that around 70% of deputies to the people's congresses are party members. The top positions in the system are granted to senior CCP leaders, including the position of the NPCSC chairman , who has always been a member of the Politburo Standing Committee , and the NPCSC vice chairperson positions. Additionally, elections are not pluralistic as no opposition is allowed. The CCP has

2537-579: The operations of the government, and to elect the major officials of state. Its delegates are elected for a five-year term through a multi-tiered electoral system . According to the Constitution, the NPC is the highest state institution within China's political system. The NPC and the National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a consultative body whose members represent various people's organizations , are

2596-466: The paramount leader's de facto control over the government, but at the 19th Party Congress in October 2017, Xi Jinping's term limits were removed and his powers were expanded. Under the PRC's constitution, the President of the People's Republic of China is a largely ceremonial office with limited powers. However, since 1993, as a matter of convention, the presidency has been held simultaneously by

2655-574: The party and state systems. The commission is headed by the CMC Chairman. The National Supervisory Commission (NSC) is the highest state supervisory ( anti-corruption ) agency of China. At the same administrative ranking as the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate , it supervises all public officials who exercise public power. It closely operates together with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of

2714-431: The party constitution. Additions included opposition to Taiwan independence , developing a "fighting spirit" and strengthening fighting ability, as well as additions of goals related to Xi, including gradually achieving common prosperity , promoting Chinese-style modernization and developing a "broader, fuller and more robust" whole-process people's democracy . The status of Xi and the CCP were further strengthened with

2773-408: The party secretaries of China's most important municipalities and provinces.Ministers and provincial governors are next in rank, followed by deputy ministers and deputy provincial governors. Ministry director generals and sub provincial municipality mayors rank below this, followed by ministry deputy director generals and third-tier city mayors. There are five ranks below these which reach to the base of

2832-550: The party's working compass. It also discusses democracy in the context of New Democracy . The constitution adopted during April 1969 at the CCP's 9th National Congress named Lin Biao as Mao Zedong's "close comrade in arms and successor". The constitution currently in force was adopted at the CCP's 12th National Congress in September 1982. In accordance with the changing situation and tasks, revisions were made in some of

2891-541: The provincial, prefecture, and county levels. At the same administrative ranking as the SPC and SPP, the National Supervisory Commission (NSC) was established in 2018 to investigate corruption within the CCP and state organs. All courts and their personnel are subject to the effective control of the CCP's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission . The CCP constitution states that the party

2950-490: The results. New policies are often tested locally before being applied more widely, resulting in a policy process that involves experimentation and feedback. This method of first implementing policy through local pilot testing was also used during the Mao era. Generally, high level central government leadership refrains from drafting specific policies, instead using the informal networks and site visits to affirm or suggest changes to

3009-414: The state and the party, especially advocated by more liberal officials such as Zhao Ziyang . The proposals included abolishing CCP committees from some government departments, increasing the influence of the State Council, and having professional managers leader SOEs instead of CCP committees. These proposals were abandoned after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre . On the relationship between

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3068-439: The state, runs parallel to the state, and is enmeshed in every level of the state." The integration of the CCP and the state has accelerated under Xi Jinping, chairing eight party commissions that direct government bodies. Under Xi, several government and party bodies have also merged, with one party organization having an external state government name under the one institution with two names system, further integrating party and

3127-464: The state. The Constitution of the PRC was first created on 20 September 1954, before which an interim constitution -like document created by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was in force. The second promulgation in 1975 shortened the constitution to just about 30 articles, containing CCP slogans and revolutionary language throughout. The role of courts was slashed, and

3186-614: The supreme command and control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police, and the Militia. It operates within the CCP under the name "Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China", and as the military arm of the central government under the name "Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China". Under the arrangement of " one institution with two names ", both commissions have identical personnel, organization and function, and operate under both

3245-493: The title was " Chairman "; after 1982, this translation was changed to " President ", although the Chinese title remains unchanged. In March 2018, presidential term limits were abolished. The State Council is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet of China. It is appointed by the National People's Congress and is chaired by the premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency. The premier

3304-451: The two most local levels, while the members at the higher levels are indirectly elected, i.e., elected by those elected in the lower levels. The size of the people's congresses increase with their administrative rank. With some exceptions, township people's congresses usually have 40 to 130 deputies, county people's congresses from 120 to 450, prefectural people's congresses from 240 to 650, provincial people's congresses from 350 to 1,000, and

3363-414: The village level to the national level. The CCP committees in government bodies supervise and lead the bodies, with the State Council legally required to implement CCP policies. As outlined by the CCP constitution: "Government, the military, society and schools, north, south, east and west – the party leads them all." Under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping , there were proposals to increase the separation of

3422-474: The working legislature, the NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC). This organ adopts most national legislation, interprets the constitution and laws, and conducts constitutional reviews , and is headed by the chairman , one of China's top officials. The president represents China abroad, though since the 1990s, the presidency has always been held by the CCP general secretary . Elected separately by

3481-485: Was first established in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China in 1954 and successively held by Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi . Liu fell into political disgrace during the Cultural Revolution, after which the office became vacant. The office was abolished under the Constitution of 1975, then reinstated in the Constitution of 1982, but with reduced powers. The official English-language translation of

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