The Constitution of the PRC stipulates that the country’s central state organs mainly comprise six components: the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Presidency of the PRC, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

      The five organs––the Presidency of the PRC, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate––are formed by the NPC, and are responsible to the NPC and its Standing Committee.

      National People’s Congress and Its Standing Committee

      The NPC is the highest organ of state power. The NPC and local people’s congresses at all levels are all formed through democratic elections.

      The NPC consists of deputies elected by 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, special administrative regions and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Every ethnic minority has an appropriate number of representatives in the NPC.

      The NPC exercises the legislative power of the state, including amending and supervising the enforcement of the Constitution and enacting and amending basic laws and laws governing other matters. It also enjoys the power to elect, decide on and remove leaders and members of the highest state organs, oversee the government, and examine and decide on major state issues in line with the Constitution and other state laws. The administrative, judicial, procuratorial, military and other organs of the state are created by the organ of state power, and are therefore supervised by and responsible to it.

      The NPC is elected for a term of five years. It meets in session annually, convened by its Standing Committee.

      The NPC Standing Committee is the permanent body of the NPC. It exercises the highest state power when the NPC is not in session. The NPC Standing Committee is composed of the chairperson, vice chairpersons, secretary general and members.

      President of the People’s Republic of China

      The president and vice president of the PRC are elected by the NPC. The NPC has the power to remove from office the president and vice president of the PRC. The president and vice president of the PRC are elected to the same length of term as the NPC and shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.

      The president of the PRC, in pursuance of decisions of the NPC and its Standing Committee, promulgates statutes; appoints or removes the premier, vice premiers, state councilors, ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the auditor general and the secretary general of the State Council; confers state medals and titles of honor; issues orders of special pardons; proclaims martial law; proclaims a state of war; and issues mobilization orders. The president of the PRC also receives credentials offered by foreign diplomatic representatives on behalf of the PRC and, in pursuance of decisions of the NPC Standing Committee, appoints or recalls plenipotentiary representatives abroad and ratifies or abrogates treaties and important agreements concluded with foreign states.

      Previous presidents of the PRC were Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Soong Ching Ling (honorary), Li Xiannian, Yang Shangkun and Jiang Zemin.

      Hu Jintao is incumbent president of the PRC.

      State Council

      The State Council, or the Central People’s Government, is the executive body of the highest organ of state power and the highest organ of state administration. It takes responsibility and reports its work to the NPC and its Standing Committee.

      The State Council is composed of the premier, vice premiers, state councilors, ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the auditor general and the secretary general. The premier of the State Council is nominated by the president, decided by the NPC, and appointed and removed by the president. Other members of the State Council are nominated by the premier, decided by the NPC or its Standing Committee, and appointed and removed by the president. The term of office of the State Council is of the same length as the NPC, and its members shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.

      Previous premiers of the State Council were Zhou Enlai, Hua Guofeng, Zhao Ziyang, Li Peng and Zhu Rongji.

      Wen Jiabao is incumbent premier of the State Council.

      The General Office of the State Council, under the leadership of the secretary general, is in charge of routine affairs of the State Council. Current secretary general of the State Council is Ma Kai (concurrently).

      The institutional restructuring of the State Council has always been ongoing. It is currently composed of:

      Ministries and commissions under the State Council (27): Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information, State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Supervision, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Health, State Commission for Population and Family Planning, People’s Bank of China and National Audit Office

      Special agency directly under the State Council (1): State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission

      Agencies directly under the State Council (19): General Administration of Customs, State Administration of Taxation, State Administration for Industry and Commerce, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, State Environmental Protection Administration, General Administration of Civil Aviation, State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, General Administration of Press and Publication (National Copyright Administration), General Administration of Sport, National Bureau of Statistics, State Forestry Administration, State Food and Drug Administration, State Administration of Work Safety, State Intellectual Property Office, National Tourism Administration, State Administration for Religious Affairs, Counsellors’ Office, Government Offices Administration and the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention

      Offices under the State Council (6): Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Legislative Affairs Office, Research Office, Taiwan Affairs Office and Information Office.

      Institutions under the State Council (14): Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Development Research Center, National School of Administration, China Earthquake Administration, China Meteorological Administration, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, China Insurance Regulatory Commission, State Electricity Regulatory Commission, National Council for Social Security Fund and National Natural Science Foundation

      Administrations and bureaus under ministries and commissions (13): State Bureau for Letters and Calls, State Administration of Grain, State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, State Oceanic Administration, State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, State Post Bureau, State Administration of Cultural Heritage, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, State Archives Administration and National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets.

      Central Military Commission

      The Central Military Commission (CMC) is the highest military leading organ of the PRC. It directs the armed forces of the country. The CMC is composed of the chairperson, vice chairpersons and members. The chairperson of the CMC is elected to the same length of term as the NPC, but there is no restriction on his/her tenure of office.

      The armed forces of the PRC are composed of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force and the militia.

      Hu Jintao is incumbent CMC chairman.

      Supreme People’s Court

      People’s courts form the judicial organs in China. The state sets up the Supreme People’s Court, local people’s courts at all levels, and military and other special courts.

      The Supreme People’s Court is the highest judicial organ of the country. It is responsible to the NPC and its Standing Committee, and reports its work to them. The Supreme People’s Court independently exercises the highest judicial power according to law and is not subject to interference by any administrative organ, social organization or individual.

      According to the Constitution and statutes, the Supreme People’s Court has three responsibilities:

      ––Handling cases that have the greatest influence, cases of appeals against judgments and rulings of higher courts and cases it deems it should deal with;

      ––Supervising the administration of justice by local people’s courts and military and other special courts at all levels, overruling wrong judgments they have made, and deciding to review the cases itself or to direct the lower-level courts to conduct a retrial; and

      ––Giving judicial interpretation of questions concerning special applications of laws in judicial proceedings, which must be carried out throughout the country.

      Supreme People’s Procuratorate

      People’s procuratorates are organs for legal supervision in China. The state sets up the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, local people’s procuratorates at all levels, and military and other special procuratorates.

      The Supreme People’s Procuratorate is the highest procuratorial organ in China. It is responsible to the NPC and its Standing Committee, and reports its work to them. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate independently exercises the highest procuratorial power according to law and is not subject to interference by any administrative organ, social organization or individual.

      According to the Constitution and statutes, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate exercises the following functions and duties:

      ––Leading the work of local people’s procuratorates and special people’s procuratorates at all levels;

      ––Directly accepting and handling, according to law, criminal cases involving corruption, bribery, tort to citizens’ democratic rights and misconduct in office, placing them on file for investigation, and deciding whether to initiate prosecution or not;

      ––Performing legal supervision over the judicial proceeding of courts and the investigation of criminal cases;

      ––Deciding on arrests and prosecution of major criminal cases according to law;

      ––Performing legal supervision over judicial activities in criminal cases;

      ––Lodging protests according to law against effective but wrong judgments and rulings made by people’s courts at various levels to the Supreme People’s Court;

      ––Exercising legal supervision over activities conducted in prisons and criminal reform institutions;

      ––Providing judicial interpretations of questions concerning special applications of laws in procuratorial work;

      ––Sponsoring negotiations with foreign procuratorial departments and conducting judicial assistance.