Government of China

Government of the
People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国政府
Formation1 October 1949; 75 years ago (1949-10-01)
LegislatureNational People's Congress
Websiteenglish.www.gov.cn Edit this at Wikidata
中国政府网.政务
Communist Party
PartyChinese Communist Party
General SecretaryXi Jinping
Government
ExecutiveState Council
(Li Qiang Government)
Paramount leader[note 1]Xi Jinping
PresidentXi Jinping
PremierLi Qiang
Congress ChairmanZhao Leji
Conference ChairmanWang Huning
Supervisory DirectorLiu Jinguo
Chief JusticeZhang Jun
Procurator GeneralYing Yong
Vice PresidentHan Zheng
MilitaryPeople's Liberation Army
People's Armed Police
Militia
Military ChairmanXi Jinping
Government of the People's Republic of China
Traditional Chinese中華人民共和國政府
Simplified Chinese中华人民共和国政府
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zhèngfǔ
Government of China
Traditional Chinese中國政府
Simplified Chinese中国政府
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōngguó Zhèngfǔ

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 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.[1] The CCP controls appointments in all state bodies through 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 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 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.[2][3]

The State Council, also referred to as 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 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 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.[4]


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  1. ^ Hao, Mingsong; Ke, Xiwang (5 July 2023). "Personal Networks and Grassroots Election Participation in China: Findings from the Chinese General Social Survey". Journal of Chinese Political Science. 29 (1): 159–184. doi:10.1007/s11366-023-09861-3. ISSN 1080-6954.
  2. ^ Natalie Liu (7 October 2022). "View China's Xi as Party Leader, Not President, Scholars Say". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022. But Clarke and other scholars make the point that Xi's real power lies not in his post as president but in his position as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
  3. ^ "How the Chinese government works". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018. Xi Jinping is the most powerful figure in China's political system, and his influence mainly comes from his position as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).