Government of China
The Government of the People's Republic of China is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).[2][3] It consists of legislative, executive, military, supervisory, judicial, and procuratorial branches. The constitutional head of government is premier, while the de facto top leader of government is General Secretary of the Communist Party.[4]
| 中华人民共和国政府 | |
.svg) | |
| Formation | 1 October 1949 |
|---|---|
| Legislature | National People's Congress |
| Website | english.www.gov.cn 中国政府网.政务 |
| Communist Party | |
| Party | Chinese Communist Party |
| General Secretary | Xi Jinping[1] |
| Government | |
| Executive | State Council (Li Keqiang Government) |
| Paramount leader[note 1] | Xi Jinping |
| President | Xi Jinping |
| Premier | Li Keqiang |
| Congress Chairman | Li Zhanshu |
| Conference Chairman | Wang Yang |
| Supervisory Director | Yang Xiaodu |
| Chief Justice | Zhou Qiang |
| Procurator General | Zhang Jun |
| Vice President | Wang Qishan |
| Military | People's Liberation Army People's Armed Police Militia |
| Military Chairman | Xi 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 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Government of China | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國政府 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中国政府 | ||||||
| |||||||
|
|---|
|
 China portal |
_cap_insignia.svg){kind=small}
The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest state organ, with control over the constitution and basic laws, as well as over the election and supervision of officials of other government organs. The congress meets annually for about two weeks in March to review and approve major new policy directions, laws, the budget, and major personnel changes. The NPC's Standing Committee (NPCSC) is the permanent legislative organ that adopts most national legislation, interprets the constitution and laws, and conducts constitutional reviews. The President acts as a head of state in compliance with decisions made by the NPCSC, but exercises an independent power to nominate the Premier. Elected separately by the NPC, the Vice-president has no power themselves, but assists the President.
The State Council, also referred to as the Central People's Government, is China's executive organ headed by the Premier of China. Besides the Premier, the State Council has 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, which is headed by the CCP General Secretary. The NPC generally approves State Council policy, although will occasionally force revisions in proposed laws.
China's judicial organs perform prosecutorial and court functions. China's courts are supervised by the Supreme People's Court (SPC), which is headed by the Chief Justice. 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.
During the 1980s there was an attempt made to separate party and state functions, with the former deciding general policy and the latter carrying it out. The attempt was abandoned in the 1990s with the result that the political leadership within the state are also the leaders of the CCP. This dual structure thereby creates a single centralized government. At the same time there has been a move to separate party and state offices at levels other than the central government, as it is not unheard of for a sub-national executive to also be party secretary. This frequently causes conflict between the chief executive and the party secretary, and such is widely seen as intentional to prevent either from becoming too powerful. Some special cases include: the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, where, according to constitution and respective basic law, most national laws do not apply; and the autonomous regions, where, following Soviet practice, the chief executive is typically a member of the local ethnic group while the CCP General Secretary is non-local and historically always Han Chinese.