High on the party, low on the state. A quantum leap in the process of China’s reconstruction. OSW Commentary NUMBER 265 | 18.04.2018

Jakóbowski, Jakub and Bogusz, Michał (2018) High on the party, low on the state. A quantum leap in the process of China’s reconstruction. OSW Commentary NUMBER 265 | 18.04.2018. [Policy Paper]

PDF - Published Version Download (128Kb)

Abstract

At its annual session in March 2018, the National People’s Congress (NPC) approved a series of changes to the structure and organisation of the Central People’s Government (also known as the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, further in the text referred to as the central government) and an amendment to China’s constitution. It also announced nominations to several important state offices. This represents a crowning achievement and formal confirmation of the process of changes to the Chinese system of power that has been ongoing since 2012. The purpose of these changes is to secure continued governance by the Communist Party of China (CPC), to maintain domestic stability and to break the impasse in economic and social reforms. The general thrust of these changes involves a shift in decision-making power and a transfer of control in terms of how the state apparatus works to organs of the CPC, at the cost of central government institutions and local governments. This is being done by concentrating power in the hands of the party’s General Secretary, Xi Jinping, who in recent years has used the CPC structures to boost discipline within the party and state institutions, to increase coordination in domestic and foreign policy and to revive the process of economic and social reforms. The changes to the structure of the administrative apparatus follow the centralist ambitions of Xi Jinping. This refers both to how the central government operates and to Beijing’s influence on local governments. These changes will considerably impact the functioning of the state and China’s international relations.

Actions (login required)