How does the Chinese Communist Party govern the country?

Chapter 3

The leading position of the Communist Party of China in the country is also reflected in the proposal of major policies.In China, the country's major policies are all under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, starting from the overall interests of the country and the fundamental interests of the people, proceeding from the conditions of the world and the country, according to different situations in different periods, and on the basis of full investigation and research. , summing up the actual experience of various places, pooling the wisdom of the people, and deciding in accordance with legal procedures.

Specifically, the method and procedure for the Chinese Communist Party to propose major policies are as follows: the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China makes recommendations to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress or the State Council, and the Standing Committee of the National Proposals are proposed and decided by the National People's Congress or the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the basis of full deliberation, and by voting in accordance with the principle of the minority obeying the majority.In this way, the party's views are transformed into the will of the state through legal procedures, realizing the unity of the party's views and the wishes of the people, and facilitating the implementation of the country's major policies.Therefore, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's proposal to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress or the State Council is the starting point for the formulation of major policies and the most important part of implementing and demonstrating the party's leadership.

The Constitution is the fundamental law of a country.Over the past 60 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, several proposals to amend the constitution were put forward by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. This is a concentrated expression of the Communist Party of China as the ruling party leading the country and the people.

The first "Constitution of the People's Republic of China", adopted at the First Session of the First National People's Congress in September 1954, was formulated under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and Mao Zedong himself participated in this work from beginning to end. The First Session of the Fourth National People's Congress in 9, the First Session of the Fifth National People's Congress in 1975, and the Fifth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress in 1978 successively revised and passed the second, third, and fourth parts of the Constitution.Beginning with the constitutional revision in 1982, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China studies and prepares for each revision of the constitution. After reaching a consensus, it proposes constitutional revision proposals to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.This has become a constitutional practice in the history of Chinese constitutionalism.

The 1982 Constitution is the current Constitution, which comprehensively and concretely reflects the principles and policies established since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, especially the Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.With the gradual deepening of reform and opening up, in order to adapt to the ever-changing economic situation, the party's policies in all aspects have also been changed accordingly.This change was also reflected in several constitutional amendments.

In October 1987, the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China expounded the nature, status and role of the private economy in the primary stage of socialism.Afterwards, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stepped up preparations for the legislation of the private economy, and formally submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress "Suggestions on Amending Individual Articles of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China", suggesting further development based on the reform of the economic system and opening up to the outside world over the past few years. The practice of reforming the Constitution on private economy and the legal transfer of land use rights.After the constitutional amendment procedure of the National People's Congress, the 1988 Constitutional Amendment was finally formed.

In October 1992, the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly pointed out that the goal of economic system reform was to establish a socialist market economic system, but this was inconsistent with, or even conflicted with, the Constitution’s stipulation that China’s economic system was a “planned economy”.Under such circumstances, the issue of constitutional amendment has once again been put on the agenda. On February 1993, 2, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China submitted a proposal to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on amending parts of the Constitution. On February 14, the No.2 Ninth Session of the Seventh National People's Congress discussed and agreed to this proposal, passed the draft amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and submitted it to the First Session of the Eighth National People's Congress for deliberation, finally forming the 22 Constitutional Amendment.

In September 1997, the 9th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held.The conference made a new elaboration on the historical status, guiding significance, scientific system and spirit of the times of Deng Xiaoping Theory, the long-term nature of the primary stage of socialism, the basic economic system and distribution system of the country in the primary stage of socialism, and the basic principles of governing the country. There is a new understanding of the strategy and other issues.At the same time, the principles and policies established by the 1998th National Congress of the Communist Party of China involve many aspects of the country's fundamental guiding ideology and national system.Therefore, the question of how to further improve the Constitution according to the development of the objective situation has been brought up again. On December 12, 21, General Secretary Jiang Zemin pointed out at a symposium for non-Party people that after the [-]th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a new situation has emerged in China's reform, opening up and modernization drive.Many people from all walks of life suggested that necessary amendments be made to the Constitution in accordance with the spirit of this conference and the development of practice.Jiang Zemin pointed out that the general guiding ideology of this revision of the Constitution is based on the spirit of the [-]th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the development of practice. Only the issues that need to be amended and have matured will be amended, and the issues that may or may not be amended will not be amended.

The final result was the 1999 Constitutional Amendment.

In November 2002, the 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out the role of the important thought of "Three Represents" in governing the party and the country, and further clarified the guidelines for the development of the non-public economy.Guided by this, on March 2003, 3, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China studied and deployed the work of revising the Constitution, determined the general principles of this constitutional revision, and established the National People’s Congress Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo as a group. long central constitutional revision group. From May to June 27, the Central Constitutional Amendment Group held six symposiums, listened to the opinions of local, departmental, and some enterprise leaders and experts, and formulated the "Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's Proposal on Amending Some Contents of the Constitution" on this basis for solicitation The draft for comments will be issued by the central government for comments within a certain range.In October of the same year, the proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on amending the Constitution was finally formed, and based on this, the subsequent 2003 Constitutional Amendment was formed.

Forewarned is forearmed, without prejudging the waste.As the world's largest developing country and the most populous country, how to promote healthy economic and social development and improve the happiness index of people's livelihood is an important task facing the Communist Party of China.For this reason, since the reform and opening up, the party has attached great importance to the formulation of national economic and social development plans (plans), and every five-year plan (plan) is proposed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Judging from the formulation process of the recent "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" (2011-2015), it reflects the leading role of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in it.Some experts pointed out that the formulation of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" can be roughly divided into the following 11 interconnected steps:
一、中期评估（2008年3月至2008年12月）。2008年3月，国家发展和改革委员会组织开展“十一五”规划（2006-2010）中期评估。

2008. Preliminary research (from the end of 2009 to the end of [-]).Including preliminary work such as basic investigation, information collection, subject research, and demonstration of major projects included in the plan.

2009. Form the "Basic Ideas" of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" (December 12 to February 2010).According to the previous research results, the National Development and Reform Commission drafted a draft of the basic idea, and after soliciting opinions from all parties (referring to various regions, departments and experts), it reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council.Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee discussed the basic ideas in detail, and after reaching a political consensus, they informed all parties to unify their understanding and carry out political mobilization.This is fully reflected in the speeches made by Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Xi Jinping, and Li Keqiang, four members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, at the Central Party School’s seminar on the implementation of the Scientific Outlook on Development to accelerate the transformation of the economic development model for key leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels in early February 2.These speeches set the tone for the basic thinking of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan". The main line of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" is to change the mode of economic development, and the key word is transformation.

2010. The drafting stage of the "Proposal" of the Party Central Committee (from February 2 to October 2010).

The "Suggestions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the No. 12 Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (Draft)" was formulated under the direct leadership of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee. In February 2010, the central government set up a drafting group for the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and "Recommendations" headed by Li Keqiang. The members were mainly composed of the State Council Research Office, the National Development and Reform Commission and various departments.The working method of the drafting group is generally to focus on learning first, mainly to study relevant materials; then form a special research group to go to various places for research; on this basis, draft the "Outline" and submit it for review.According to the instructions of the leaders of the central government on submitting the "Outline" for review, as well as the opinions of various parties, the drafting group began to focus on writing and drafting the "Proposal".Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee listened to reports many times, and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee discussed the "Proposal" many times.After the closing of the National People's Congress in March, nine members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and other members went to various places to conduct special investigations.This is the best form of direct information communication between central leaders and local leaders. Central leaders can directly obtain first-hand information and understand first-hand materials; on the other hand, local leaders can directly reflect their actual requirements and specific suggestions. , exchange views on major policies and reach consensus.The process of forming the "Proposal" is a process of democratic decision-making.

The first is to extensively listen to the opinions of local and departmental party committees (party groups), old party comrades, and party elites in order to pool the wisdom of the entire party; In order to absorb the wisdom of the society and to absorb the opinions of foreign elites, the "Proposal" is constantly revised, enriched and perfected.It will also be discussed many times at the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee and the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, and the discussion draft of the "Proposal" will be formally submitted to the Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

2010. Adoption of the "Recommendation". In October 10, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was officially held. The Premier of the State Council, on behalf of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, made the "Explanation on Formulating the No. 12 Five-Year Plan Proposals for National Economic and Social Development". Proposals for Formulating the No.[-] Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" and officially announced it.The "Proposal" of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China analyzes the domestic and foreign situation, and puts forward the main economic and social goals, guidelines, important principles, key strategies and main tasks of the plan according to China's basic national conditions and development stage, laying the foundation for the formulation of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" outline .This is a process from democracy to centralization again, mainly a process from democracy to centralization within the party.

六、制定《中华人民共和国国民经济和社会发展No.12个五年规划纲要》文本（2010年10月至2011年2月）。

2010. Demonstration by the National Planning Expert Committee (October 10 to January 2011).

[-]. Extensively seek internal and external opinions.

2011. The National People's Congress reviewed and approved the "Outline (Draft)" (March 3).

12. The "National Economic and Social Development No. [-] Five-Year Plan Outline of the People's Republic of China" was officially announced.

[-]. Planning and implementation stage.

It can be seen from this that the party's major policy is not vague, but specific. The report of the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2002 clearly stated: "The leadership of the party is mainly political, ideological and organizational leadership. Govern and implement the Party’s leadership over the country and society.” In summary, whether it is the revision of the Constitution or the proposal of the Five-Year Plan, etc., all reflect the characteristics and connotation of the Party’s leadership.

(End of this chapter)