How does the Chinese Communist Party govern the country?

Chapter 10

In a country that implements a unitary system, the central government uniformly leads the localities, and the power of the central government is highly concentrated.

China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China is considered to be a country with relatively concentrated power. This system, in addition to enabling the party to lead the country's economic and social development to achieve world-renowned achievements, also shows that when the country is facing crisis and major public emergencies, It has many advantages such as strong mobilization ability, high decision-making efficiency, and strong execution ability.This was fully reflected in the earthquake relief process after the Sichuan Wenchuan Earthquake on May 2008, 5.Not one month after the Wenchuan Earthquake, China promulgated the "Regulations on Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Restoration and Reconstruction" to legislate for the reconstruction of the disaster area.The Chinese government has decided that many provinces across the country should allocate 12% of their fiscal revenue to assist the disaster-stricken areas for three consecutive years, and the central government agencies should squeeze out 1% of their funds to assist the disaster-stricken areas, and strive to complete the reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas within two years.In addition, a careful counterpart support plan has been formulated, and 5 provinces will support the disaster-stricken areas.For example, Guangdong Province supports Wenchuan County, and Shandong Province supports Beichuan County.

After the earthquake in Yushu, Qinghai in April 2009, China also adopted a policy of "pair assistance" across the country to help the victims of Yushu earthquake relief and rebuild their homes.Now, if you visit these places that used to be disaster areas, you will find that these places have changed their appearance and have since "changed the world".Straight roads, beautiful schools, newly built houses, etc. will be displayed in front of you one by one.The speed and strength of the Chinese government's post-disaster reconstruction are recognized by the world.

The New York Times of the United States once compared China's earthquake relief in 2008 with that of Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005, and believed that the performance of the Chinese government in dealing with natural disasters fully demonstrated the superiority of the Chinese system and the government's capabilities.Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" also published an editorial pointing out that the reconstruction process after the earthquake reflects the great changes in Chinese society, including the governance model of the government, the degree of openness of the society, and the sense of responsibility of citizens.These positive changes are worthy of high recognition and appreciation.

There are many obstacles on the road of China's reform and opening up, and it will not work without a strong central government.Deng Xiaoping once pointed out: "The central government must have authority. If reforms are to be successful, they must be carried out in an orderly manner. If there is no such provision, it will be chaotic and everyone will go their own way. How can we do it? You can't do 'you have policies and I have countermeasures', and you can't go against the law. The 'countermeasures' of the central government...we have to set a policy, which is to deepen reforms under the unified leadership of the central government." Looking back over the past 30 years, the reason why China's reform and opening up has come to this day is because China has a strong central government capable of It is not unrelated to resist the pressure from all sides and insist on reform and opening up. At the end of the 20s and the beginning of the 80s, when faced with the unsettled domestic situation and the low tide of socialism in the world, some people questioned the reform and opening up policy, and some countries pointed fingers at China. Deng Xiaoping pointed out that we must adhere to the line, principles and policies since the reform and opening up.This clear attitude of the central government has stabilized the situation in China, clarified the direction of China, and made the course of China's reform and opening up all the way forward.In retrospect, without a strong central government, it would be difficult to deal with such a complex domestic and international situation. China's ship would lose its direction, and the modernization cause that the Chinese people had worked so hard for would be ruined.

So how does China, a powerful central government, govern the country?The unified leadership of the central government is generally divided into three parts: the party, the government, and the army.In terms of the party, at the central level, there are different levels such as the National Party Congress, the Central Committee, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee.The National Party Congress has the highest power. The Central Committee elected by it basically holds one or two meetings every year to discuss major national affairs. Usually, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee exercises relevant powers.Li Kanru, a well-known American expert on China issues, believes that "the real core of power is the Standing Committee of the Politburo, a small organization with 4-9 members, which seems to meet every week" and "the general secretary has become the highest official of the party."In fact, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee meets every week to discuss major national affairs and resolve important issues that require collective decisions.In terms of the party, there are more than 30 units directly under the central government, including the CPC Central Committee for Disciplinary Inspection, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee, the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, and the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. , respectively responsible for anti-corruption, cadre personnel, ideology, inter-party exchanges, united front, cadre education and many other aspects.In terms of legislative administration, there are the National People's Congress and local people's congresses at various levels, which elect the central government, provincial government, city government, county government, and township (town) government respectively.The government implements the chief responsibility system.Under a unitary system, the State Council, as the central government, has multiple powers to manage the daily affairs of the country. The Prime Minister, as the head of the central government, is in charge of the State Council affairs. Dozens of ministries and commissions, including the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, manage China's economic, social, cultural, and ecological affairs.Corresponding provincial governments and other levels of government also have relevant departments to govern economic, social, and cultural affairs within their jurisdictions.In terms of military defense, the Communist Party of China has always emphasized the principle of adhering to the party's command of the gun.The general secretary of the CPC Central Committee is of course the chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and also the chairman of the State Military Commission, leading the armed forces and national defense work.The specific responsible body of the military system is the Central Military Commission, referred to as the Central Military Commission.It also set up headquarters organs such as the General Staff Department, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department, and the General Armament Department, as well as seven military regions in Beijing, Shenyang, Jinan, Nanjing, Lanzhou, Chengdu, and Guangzhou.

In addition, each province and city has also set up corresponding military units.Counties and townships have People's Armed Forces Departments to manage the militia and conscription within the jurisdiction.

As the ruling party, the Communist Party of China occupies an undisputed leadership position in the state structure and is the core of China's leadership.The party leadership congress, the government, the CPPCC, the procuratorate, the court and other institutions.There are party groups in the National People's Congress and other state departments. The establishment of the party group as a decision-making body is not in vain.This is reflected in the party's management of cadres and party management of talents.In particular, party-management cadres have become the key to the central leadership of local governments. In 1998, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promulgated the "List of Positions of Cadres Administered by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China", indicating that all cadres above the sub-provincial level are directly inspected and managed by the central government, and local cadres with major bureau-level positions must report to the central government.In June 1999, the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China promulgated the "Interim Regulations on the Exchange of Party and Government Leading Cadres", which implemented the non-local principle and a regular replacement system in the selection of local leaders.At present, the composition mode of China's provincial leadership is as follows: the chief provincial party secretary and governor are transferred from other provinces and central ministries and commissions, while the deputy chiefs are mainly from the province.This is actually an important manifestation of the central government’s increased leadership over local governments, with the purpose of strengthening the authority of the central government so that the local government and the central government can maintain consistency.In China, the control of local core leading cadres has become a major means for the central government to restrain the behavior of local governments, and it is also the core feature of political unitary system.

The central government has also adopted many methods to lead the localities, implementing vertical management over many key departments including national taxation, the People's Bank of China, foreign exchange management, and customs.Take the State Taxation Bureau as an example. There are State Taxation Bureaus in all provinces, cities and counties, and the State Administration of Taxation at the national level. The State Taxation Bureaus in various places are affiliated to the State Administration of Taxation, not to local governments.Of course, the National Taxation Bureau is also bound by local governments at the same level, but personnel and financial power are all managed by the higher-level National Taxation Bureau.This can avoid the interference of local protectionism, be more detached, and more conducive to the fairness of national tax collection.

In terms of policies, the central government holds absolute power to issue policies.Since the reform and opening up, the country has established five special economic zones, developed and opened Shanghai Pudong, and established Tianjin Binhai New Area, providing strong policy support for the rapid development of these places. In the mid-20s, there was a boom in development zones and high-tech parks all over the country. The main purpose was to obtain good policies from the central government and develop the local economy.Since the beginning of the new century, some places have seized the opportunity of the country's division of main functional areas and have come to Beijing to seek policy support from the central government.Although some policy implementation effects are not satisfactory, the central government has indeed strongly stimulated local economic and social development through policy formulation.China has also recently stepped up scrutiny of local governments' implementation of central policies.

According to the law, the central government has the authority to manage the areas under its jurisdiction, but at present the central government mainly manages the localities through the means of finance and official performance appraisal.

In 2011, the fiscal revenue of the central government exceeded RMB 10 trillion.The Chinese Communist Party has always pursued the concept of taking from the people and using them for the people, and most of the taxes collected will be returned to the local governments.This also urges local governments to obey the central government and accept the central government's instructions.The central government has stepped up assistance to impoverished areas through various methods such as transfer payments, and promoted the accelerated development of impoverished areas, which is conducive to the realization of coordinated regional development in China as a whole.Relatively poor places, such as many provinces in the western region, eagerly expect more money from the central government to support their development.

Since the reform and opening up, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has held five Tibet work symposia and one Xinjiang work symposium. The main purpose is to increase the support of the central government for these places. The central government also mobilized the richer coastal provinces to support the development of poor areas. These have achieved great success. had a good effect. At the beginning of 2012, the central government decided to increase support for the western province of Guizhou, and promulgated "Several Opinions on Further Promoting the Sound and Rapid Economic and Social Development of Guizhou".This means that Guizhou will receive strong support from various central departments and brother provinces, which is undoubtedly great news for relatively poor and backward Guizhou.

The central government has formulated a performance evaluation standard that actually takes the level of the economic aggregate as the evaluation standard, which stimulates the enthusiasm of local cadres to develop the local economy.Recently, the central government is exploring and reforming the evaluation model that only pursues GDP in accordance with the requirements of the scientific development concept, and adding scientific development content to it, so as to avoid the problem that in the past, it only focused on the economy and did not pay attention to coordinated development.

The centralized power of the central government has a high degree of authority, which is beneficial to the smooth flow of government orders and policy implementation, but too much power concentrated in the central government will also lead to insufficient local enthusiasm and a negative mentality of waiting for what is needed.To this end, the central government made several attempts to decentralize power.But as Deng Xiaoping said:
"In our history, we have repeatedly overemphasized the centralization and unity of the party, overemphasized the opposition to decentralism and independence, seldom emphasized the necessary decentralization and autonomy, and seldom opposed the excessive centralization of individual power. In the past, between the central and local governments, the division Powers have been passed several times, but each time it does not involve the issue of how to divide the scope of power between the party and the government, economic organizations, mass organizations, etc..” This shows the difficulty of decentralization of central and local powers.

(End of this chapter)