In the People's Republic of China, politics functions within the parameters of a unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's congresses. This one-party state operates 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."
The Chinese political system is considered authoritarian. There are no freely elected national leaders, political opposition is suppressed, all organized religious activity is controlled by the CCP, dissent is not permitted, and civil rights are curtailed. Limited direct elections have occurred only at the local level, not the national level, with all candidate nominations controlled by the CCP. The nature of the elections is highly constrained by the CCP's monopoly on power, censorship, and party control over elections. By law, all elections at all levels must adhere to the leadership of the CCP. All government bodies and state-owned enterprises have internal CCP committees that lead the decision-making in these institutions. China's two special administrative regions (SARs), Hong Kong and Macau, are governed under the "one country, two systems" principle.
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 is a ceremonial office and has no real power but represents China abroad, though since the 1990s, the presidency has always been held by the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. 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 general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party 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.
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 the judiciary's 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.
Overview
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the government in Beijing officially asserts to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, which it defines as including mainland China and Taiwan. This has been disputed by the Republic of China (ROC) government since the ROC government retreated to Taiwan in 1949. The ROC has since undergone significant political reforms following the end of martial law in 1987.
China's population, geographical vastness, and social diversity has historically frustrated attempts to rule from Beijing. Reform and opening up during the 1980s and the devolution of much central government decision making, combined with the strong interest of local CCP officials in enriching themselves, made it increasingly difficult for the central government to assert its authority. At the time, limited direct elections were held at the village and town levels, with all candidate nominations controlled by the CCP.
The Chinese political system is considered authoritarian. There are no freely elected national leaders, political opposition is suppressed, all organized religious activity is controlled by the CCP, dissent is not permitted, and civil rights are curtailed. The nature of the elections is highly constrained by the CCP's monopoly on power, censorship, and party control over elections. According to the 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices, China was the second least electoral democratic country in Asia. By law, all elections at all levels must adhere to the leadership of the CCP. The level of comprehensive control exercised by the CCP, combined with its revolutionary origins, has led it to be described as "one of the most durable regimes in modern history".
Some argue that during the general secretaryship of Xi Jinping, collective leadership in the country has waned. Others, such as academician Joseph Torigian, argue that Deng Xiaoping never really implemented collective leadership.
Self-description The Chinese constitution describes the country's system of government as a "people's democratic dictatorship." The CCP has also used other terms to officially describe China's system of government including "socialist consultative democracy", and "whole-process people's democracy."
Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dominates the Chinese political landscape. Constitutionally, the party's supreme body is its National Congress, which meets every five years. Meetings were irregular before the Cultural Revolution but have been periodic since then. The National Congress elects the Central Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI); the Central Committee in turn elects bodies such as:
The General Secretary, which is the highest-ranking official within the Party and usually the Chinese paramount leader. The Politburo, consisting of 22 full members (including the members of the Politburo Standing Committee); The Politburo Standing Committee, the most powerful decision-making body in China, which as of June 2020 consists of seven members; The Secretariat, the principal administrative mechanism of the CCP, headed by the General Secretary; The Central Military Commission
Role and function The CCP constitution states that the party is the highest force for political leadership. The party's institutions overlap with government institutions and the party has authority over government decisions at both the local and central levels. Senior government officials throughout the country are appointed by the CCP, and are mostly CCP members. All government departments, state-owned enterprises and public institutes include CCP committees, from the village level to the national level. The CCP committees in government bodies supervise and lead the bodies, with the State Council legally required to implement CCP policies. As outlined by the CCP constitution: "Government, the military, society and schools, north, south, east and west – the party leads them all."
According to scholar Rush Doshi, "[t]he Party sits above the state, runs parallel to the state, and is enmeshed in every level of the state." On the relationship between the government and the CCP, James Palmer, writing for Foreign Policy, states that, "[t]he Chinese government is essentially the shadow of the Communist Party, moving as the party does, and consequently government roles matter far less than party ones." According to The Economist, "[e]specially when meeting foreigners, officials may present name cards bearing government titles but stay quiet about party positions which may or may not outrank their state jobs." CCP control is tightest in central government offices and urban economic, industrial, and cultural settings; it is considerably looser over the government and party establishments in rural areas, where a significant percentage of mainland Chinese people live. The CCP's most important responsibility comes in the selection and promotion of personnel. They also see that party and state policy guidance is followed and that non-party members do not create autonomous organizations that could challenge party rule. Significant are the leading small groups which coordinate activities of different agencies. State-owned enterprises, private companies and foreign-owned businesses are also required to have internal CCP committees.
In relative liberalization periods, the influence of people and groups outside the formal party structure has increased, particularly in the economic realm. Nevertheless, in all governmental institutions in the PRC, the party committees at all levels maintain a powerful and pivotal role in the administration. During the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, there were proposals to increase the separation of the state and the party, termed dangzheng fenli (), advocated by more reformist officials such as Zhao Ziyang. The proposals included abolishing CCP committees from some government departments, increasing the influence of the State Council, and having professional managers leader SOEs instead of CCP committees. These proposals were abandoned after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
Integration of the state and its institutions with the CCP as well as the CCP's strengthening vis-à-vis the state has accelerated during Xi Jinping's tenure, particularly following a series of institutional reforms initiated in 2018 and 2024 amendments to the Organic Law of the State Council. Under Xi, several state and party bodies have effectively merged under the "one institution with two names" system.
Intra-party factions Chinese politics have long been defined by the competition between intra-party factions' ability to place key members and allies in positions of power within the CCP and Chinese government.
Under general secretaries Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, the two main factions were the Tuanpai and the Shanghai clique. The Tuanpai were cadres and officials that originated from the Communist Youth League of China, while the Shanghai Clique were officials that rose to prominence under Jiang Zemin when he was first mayor, and then CCP committee secretary, of Shanghai.
Xi Jinping, who became general secretary in 2012, has significantly centralized power, removing the influence of the old factions and promoting his allies, sometimes called the "Xi Jinping faction". Due to this, the old factions, including the Shanghai clique and the Tuanpai, are considered extinct, especially since the 20th CCP National Congress, in which Xi's allies dominated the new Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee.
Constitution
The first constitution of the PRC was created on 20 September 1954, before which the Common Program, an interim constitution-like document created by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was in force. The second constitution in 1975 shortened the constitution to just about 30 articles, containing CCP slogans and revolutionary language throughout. The role of courts was slashed, and the Presidency was gone. The third constitution in 1978 expanded the number of articles, but was still under the influence of the very-recent Cultural Revolution.