PARTY AND STATE STRUCTURE
The Chinese Communist Party
"If all men were equal in power, the state could not be unified; if all stood on the same
level, there could be no government.” (Xunzi)
There are three major hierarchies in China: the Communist Party, the government and the military. Of these, the Communist Party plays the leading role. There are Party branches in all organisations from the centre (government ministries and army general staff) down to local level. Important positions tend to be held by Party members who may hold concurrently posts in the Party, government and/or military.
The smallest unit of the Party is the Party Branch, for example in factories, workshops, rural production brigades, offices, schools and shops. Above the branches is an interlocking system of congresses and committees with the National Party Congress and the Central Committee at the apex. Congresses are normally held at 5-yearly intervals and Central Committee meetings once or twice a year. There are approximately 40 million Party members.
The inner core of the Party leadership consists of the Politburo and the Secretariat. The Politburo has a small Standing Committee which acts as a kind of “inner cabinet" and is the supreme decision-making body. The senior Party post is that of the General Secretary of the Central Committee. Broadly speaking, the role of the Politburo is to make policy and that of the Secretariat is to attend to the day-to-day work of the Central Committee and Politburo. Other senior central Party bodies responsible to the Central Committee are the Military Commission (through which the Party controls the PLA), the Advisory Commission (consisting of elderly, longstanding Party members) and the Discipline Inspection Commission.
In September 1985, a special National Conference of Party Delegates was convened. About 20% of the Central Committee and almost half of the Politburo resigned on grounds of age, to be replaced by younger, better-educated people who support the reform policies. In the Politburo the average age has fallen from 75 to 70 years, and military representation has been reduced from nine to four members.
Government
"Heaven has its seasons; Earth has its resources; Man has his government. This means that
man is capable of forming a trinity with the other two.” (Xunzi)
A new State Constitution was adopted by the National People's Congress (NPC) – China's parliament in December 1982. The Constitution is both a political and an organisational document. It defines "socialist modernisation" as China's basic task. It stipulates that under the leadership of the Communist Party and with the guidance of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought the Chinese people will "uphold the people's democratic dictatorship and the socialist road".
The NPC is described in the Constitution as "the highest organ of State power”. The current NPC has 3,500 deputies. Representation is weighted in favour of urban areas by a factor of 8:1. Deputies are elected indirectly (see below). According to the Constitution the NPC has a five-year term and meets once a year. The NPC's powers include those to amend the Constitution, to pass laws, to make appointments to the major offices of State, to approve economic plans and budgets, and to decide on questions of war and peace. The Standing Committee of the NPC, which at present has some 175 members, is empowered to carry out the functions of the Congress between sessions.
The State Council is the executive organ of the NPC, and the highest level of State administration. It consists of the Premier, who presides over the work of the State Council, the Vice-Premiers, the State Councillors and the Ministers. As a result of the 1982
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