WEEK 2: THE PARTY – HOW IS CHINA GOVERNED

Xin Sun
Senior Lecturer in Chinese and East Asian Business
King’s College London
Email: [email protected]
Understanding Political Systems

Who hold what political power?

What are the relationships among key powerholders?

How do powerholders come to power?

How is power exercised in practice? How are policies made and

implemented?
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

• Founded in 1921

• 91 million party members

• Official ideology:
socialism/communism, Marx-Leninism,
Mao Zedong Thought etc.

• Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with

Chinese Characteristics for a New Era
The Party
The CCP After Prolonged Military Struggle

Highly disciplined party: a centralized organization

Obedience to Mao: Mao carried out purges of those disloyal to him

Grassroots organization with strong mobilization capacity

Highly militarized – until Deng forced many veterans to retire in the 1980s
 Structure of the Political System

Politburo
Standing
Committee
Leadership

Central
People’s
State Council NPC & CPPCC Commission of
Liberation Army Politics and Law
Executive Legislature Military Law Enforcement
 Party Leadership

Leadership

Central
Secretariat Organization
Department
Chief of Staff Personel

Commission of
Central Publicity
Discipline
Department
Inspection
Propaganda Anti-corruption

… … …

Executive Legislature Judiciary

Party Leadership

Party Secretary PSG: the supreme leader, also concurrently the

General (PSG) President of China and Chairman of the Central
Military Commission

Politburo Standing PSC: 5-9 members who also hold concurrent

Committee (PSC) positions

Politburo: 20+ members who also hold concurrent

Politburo positions among the State Council, the military,
important localities etc.

Central CC: 300+ members from all branches of the Party;

Committee (CC) meet once every year
 Party Secretary
General

Xi Jinping (2012-present)

Jiang Zemin (1989-2002)

Hu Jintao (2002-2012)
Caveats

• The Party’s supreme leader is called “Party Secretary General (PSG)” only after 1982,
before it was “Chairman” of the Party, as in Chairman Mao

• The supreme leader typically hold three concurrent positions: PSG, Chairman of the
Central Military Commission (CMC), and the President of China.

Exception existed: e.g. Deng was Chairman of CMC between 1981 and 1989, but
didn’t hold the other two positions

When PSG, Chairman of CMC and the President of China were held by different
people, who was more powerful?
 20th Politburo
Standing Committee
(2022—2027)

From left to right:

Li Xi
Cai Qi
Zhao Leji
Xi Jinping
Li Qiang
Wang Huning
Ding Xuexiang
Leadership Style
How Are Party Leaders Selected – The Party Congress
How Are Party Leaders Selected – Factional Politics
Shanghai Gang (as of 2007)
Xi’s Faction (as of 2017)
How to Get Promotion in the CCP?

• Achievement (e.g. economic growth in a locality, maintaining social stability)

• Extensive experience (across different localities and/or departments)

• Avoiding serious mistakes (e.g. corruption scandals, dereliction of duty)

• Political connections with senior leaders

• Luck?
 Party Leadership

Leadership

Central
Secretariat Organization
Department
Chief of Staff Personel

Commission of
Central Publicity
Discipline
Department
Inspection
Propaganda Anti-corruption

… … …
 Central
Organization
Department
 Exerting Party Government
Control

Military Media
• Personnel
appointment
The
• Grassroots Party Party
branches
Judiciary University

• Financial control

SOEs
• Ideological
campaigns
Central Publicity Department
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

• In charge of anti-corruption

• Led by a PSC member

• Internal investigation procedure (shuanggui)

preceding the law enforcement

• The organ behind Xi’s anti-corruption

campaign
 Structure of the Political System

Politburo
Standing
Committee
Leadership

Central
People’s
State Council NPC & CPPCC Commission of
Liberation Army Politics and Law
Executive Legislature Military Law Enforcement
State Council

• Premier, also a PSC member

Premier

• Vice-Premier: 1 executive Vice-Premier (PSC);

Vice- 3 Vice-Premiers (Politburo)
Premier

• 5 State Councilors
State
Councilor
• e.g. Ministry of Education; People’s Bank of
China; Ministry of Finance, State-owned
Department Assets Supervision and Administration
and Ministry Commission etc.
 Structure of the Political System

Politburo
Standing
Committee
Leadership

Central
People’s
State Council NPC & CPPCC Commission of
Liberation Army Politics and Law
Executive Legislature Military Law Enforcement
National People’s Congress

• Currently 2980 delegates serving a five-year

term (2018-2023)

• Indirectly elected with provinces as primary

constituencies

• Annual meeting (“two sessions”)

• Lawmaking and approval of key government

(not Party) positions

• Rubber-stamp legislature
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

• 2237 members from 34 circles (jiebie)

• Four types of circles: 1) democratic

parties; 2) semi-governmental
organizations 3) professional and social
groups 4) specially invited figures

• Nominated and approved by COD

• Annual meeting (“two sessions”)

• Submit proposals (ti’an)and suggestions

(jianyi)
People’s Liberation Army

Central Military Commission (CMC)

Chairman—Xi Jinping

Two Vice-Chairmen, concurrently Politburo members

CMC members
 Structure of the Political System

Politburo
Standing
Committee
Leadership

Central
People’s
State Council NPC & CPPCC Commission of
Liberation Army Politics and Law
Executive Legislature Military Law Enforcement
Law Enforcement

Central
Commission of
Politics and Law

Supreme
Supreme Minister of Minister of State
People’s
People’s Court Procuratorate Public Security Security
How Are Policies Made/Implemented?

• Policymaking is top-down: the most important policies are determined by the Party and
central government and passed down to lower levels

• Policy implementation is largely a local matter, except in a few critically important policy
areas, such as taxation, banking, national security etc.

• Both policymaking and implementation are affected by the “fragmented authority” within
the political system, leaving room for political bargaining

• Sometimes, local experimentation is encouraged and public voice is incorporated

• Leading Small Groups play a key role in coordinating different “fragments” of the
political system
 Leading Small Groups

Politburo Standing
Committee

Leading Small
Groups

State Council Legislature Military Law Enforcement Local Governments

Countering COVID-19 Leading Small Group
Membership of the Chinese Communist Party “Central Leading Small Group for Work to Counter the New Coronavirus Infection
Pneumonia Epidemic”

Member (Romanized Name) Chinese Name State / Party Position CCP Leadership Echelon

Li Keqiang (chair) 李克强 PRC Premier Politburo Standing Committee

CCP policy czar for ideology & propaganda; senior member

Wang Huning (vice-chair) 王沪宁 Politburo Standing Committee
of the CCP Secretariat

Ding Xueliang 丁薛祥 Director of the CCP Central Office Politburo

PRC Vice-Premier (portfolio for public health, education, and

Sun Chunlan 孙春兰 culture); former director of the CCP United Front Work Politburo
Department

Huang Kunming 黄坤明 Director of the CCP Central Propaganda Department Politburo

Cai Qi 蔡奇 Beijing CCP Secretary Politburo

Wang Yi 王毅 PRC Foreign Minister Central Committee

Xiao Jie 肖捷 PRC State Council Secretary-General Central Committee

Zhao Kezhi 赵克志 PRC Minister of Public Security Central Committee

 Local Administrative
Units

31 provincial-level
administrative units,
including:

• 22 provinces
• 4 directly-administrated
cities
• 2 special administrative
regions (HK & Macau)

Plus:
• Taiwan
Political Structure at the Provincial Level

Provincial Party
Committee
Leadership

Court,
Provincial Provincial PC &
Prosecutor,
Government PPCC
Police
Executive Legislature Law Enforcement
Power Relations Between Central and Local Governments

• Personnel appointment is top-down

• Policymaking is largely top-down

• Since policy implementation is largely a local government responsibility, local

governments enjoy considerable discretion in the implementation process

• Fiscal relations between central and local governments are more complicated
The (Shifting) Power of The Local Government