Chinese Governmental Structure
Structure of the Chinese Government
December 3, 2014
This article has been produced by the efforts of the following members:
Hamza Tariq – Research Assistant
Louis-Claude Perrault-Carré – Team Leader for China-Industry
The People’s Republic of China has been a communist state since 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power after defeating the nationalist political party, Kuomintang, in a civil war.[1] Ever since, the CCP has been the governing political party in the country. Although eight smaller and supposedly independent parties also operate in China, they are ultimately controlled by the CCP. Formal political opposition is virtually non-existent.[2]
The Chinese constitution places the National People’s Congress (NPC) as the highest governing authority of the state. The NPC is responsible for passing legislation, overseeing the Chinese constitution, the national budget and decide on matters of war and peace. The Congress has 2,988 deputies, out of which 265 deputies are elected by the armed forces and 2,723 deputies are elected by lower people’s congresses in provinces, autonomous regions, special administrative regions and municipalities.[3] The exceptionally large size of the National People’s Congress means that it convenes only once a year, in March, and the day-to-day responsibilities are delegated to the much smaller Standing Committee of the NPC.[4]
The lower people’s congresses are the highest local authorities in their respective regions and also operate in a similar way to the NPC and generally delegate to their own standing committees. Further below the provincial level, 2,862 municipal, county and township governments are present.[5]
The Supreme People’s Court is the highest court in the judicial branch of the Chinese government. It consists of over 340 judges.[6] The chief justice is appointed by the NPC and is limited to two consecutive 5-year terms. The rest of the bench is nominated by the chief justice and appointed by the Standing Committee of the NPC.[7] The lower courts fall under the purview of the Supreme People’s Court and adjudicates over matters ranging from maritime and forestry to transportation.[8]
The State Council of China is the highest authority in terms of government administration and reports to the NPC.[9] The Premier presides over the council and other major actors include the Vice-Premiers, the Auditor-General and the Secretary-General, and a number of other ministers. The council performs administrative duties, drafts the national budget and presents proposals to the NPC.[10]
The President of China is elected by the NPC for a five-year term.[11] The president is eligible for a second term but cannot go beyond ten-year tenure in office.[12] Key powers of the president include formalizing the statutes adopted by the NPC, appointing and removing the Premier and other members of the State Council and declaring war or announcing a state of peace.[13] The current President of China is Xi Jinping, who was elected by the NPC in March 2013. He was previously the General Secretary of the CCP.[14] President Xi is expected to lead China for the next ten years. It is being reported that Xi has been centralizing power and is moving away from collective leadership that has previously been dominant in the Chinese government.[15] He has also been attempting to present a more modernized version of China to the world.[16]
With the new President at the helm, the economy has seen more liberalized policies regarding exchange and interest rates and capital accounts.[17] This indicates that there is a trend towards a more consumption-oriented model. Household consumption is increasing with rising incomes.[18] The expansion in imports is expected to outgrow export growth with soaring local demand.[19] This indicates that businesses exporting to China can expect more favourable policies in the future.
The significance of China’s governmental structure is that even with its recent reforms, it is still very centralized, and unilateral. The highest government officials are very powerful, and can make very substantial decisions without explanation or representation of the people. China will probably not make any changes of government in the near future, besides these small incremental changes to fight corruption by President Xi, meaning that businesses have to be aware of the political situation in the country, because it is very unpredictable. Risks involved include the National People’s Congress meeting only once a year, meaning decisions are made in other, perhaps less official ways during the rest of the year. Another risk is the power of the President, which will change in approximately ten years. President Xi is perhaps considered a pro-business President, but the next one may not be which is noteworthy, because he has the power to reverse everything the current President has done.
