Annex 2
CHINA: POLITICAL STRUCTURE
COMMUNIST PARTY
1. China is in practice a one party state.
The National People's Congress (NPC) is indirectly elected. Direct
elections for village leaders have also been conducted since 1988.
They take place every three years, although it is unclear how
genuine and effective they are. The legislature remains subject
to Party leadership.
2. The Communist Party gives direction to
and appoints all the key personnel for government organisations.
China's political system is highly centralised and hierarchical,
and the decisions and attitudes of the leadership are crucial.
Communist Party membership reached 69.6 million by the end of
2004, an increase of 1.37 million year-on-year. Women make up
only 18.6% of the total and members of China's 56 national minorities
6.3% (below the 8-9% of the total population they represent).
The figures show that 66.2% joined after the Cultural Revolution,
with the largest single group (36.7%) joining after 1992. 55.6%
of members have a senior high-school education or higher. Nearly
23% are 60 or over, with a similar number aged 35 or below. The
majority, 54.5%, are aged between 36 and 59.
STATE COUNCIL
3. The State Council is China's central
government. Its bodies administer and implement central policies
and decisions. The work of the State Council is presided over
by an Executive Board made up of the 29 heads of the Ministries
and Commissions, who are in turn are overseen by the Premier,
the four Vice Premiers and the five State Councillors, as well
as the State Council Secretary General.
NATIONAL PEOPLE'S
CONGRESS
4. The National People's Congress is China's
legislative body and approves appointments to leading state and
government positions including the offices of President, Premier,
Supreme People's Court President, Supreme People's Procuratorate
Chief Procurator and State Central Military Commission members.
It supervises the work of these offices through voting on the
annual reports it receives from them. As well as its supervisory
role, the NPC scrutinises and passes legislation: a role it is
becoming more capable and professional at executing. In reality
however, the NPC is subject to control by the Party, and takes
no major decisions that do not have Party approval. The current
NPC Chairman Wu Bangguo is also ranked second on the Politburo
Standing Committee, and senior Vice Chairman Wang Zhaoguo is also
on the Party's Politburo. The NPC is elected for a term every
five years, and meets annually (usually in March in Beijing).
When the NPC isn't sitting a Standing Committee scrutinises laws.
NPC delegates are chosen by indirect election and are deliberately
chosen from all walks of life. In March 2003 the new NPC included
133 heads of private companies, out of a total of 2,951 delegates.
CHINESE PEOPLE'S
POLITICAL CONSULTATIVE
CONFERENCE (CPPCC)
5. The Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference is China's top advisory body. Many of its members are
not Communist Party members, although it (too) comes under the
leadership of the Party. The body is a vehicle for the Party's
policy of consultation with experts and communities outside the
Party: otherwise known as the United Front strategy. As an advisory
body the CPPCC has no real power although its Chairman Jia Qinglin
is ranked fourth on the Party's Politburo Standing Committee.
The CPPCC meets each year at the same time as the NPC. In March
2003 a total of 2,150 delegates attended, bringing together members
of China's eight "democratic" parties, religious, academic
and business figures, and members of China's various ethnic minorities.
CONSTITUTION
6. China's present State Constitution (not
to be confused with the Communist Party's Constitution) was promulgated
in 1982. It plays no significant role in day to day governance
in China, but rather serves as barometer of China's changing social,
economic and political ideological climate. For example, as the
non-state sector has become increasingly tolerated by the Party
leadership, so the State Constitution has been amended to recognise
the role of the non-state sector. So far there have been four
amendments to the current 1982 Constitution, the latest of which
was passed in March 2004 and further reinforced private property
rights, and for the first time a brief reference to the protection
of human rights. The Constitution is not enforceable in any court
of law in China, and the preamble of the Constitution acknowledges
the leading role of the Communist Party.
|