State Council of the People's Republic of China

State Council of the
People's Republic of China

中华人民共和国国务院 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guówùyuàn
Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Agency overview
Formed	27 September 1954
Preceding agency	Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government
Type	Executive branch of the central government Executive body of the National People's Congress[2] Highest organ of State administration[2]
Jurisdiction	Government of the People's Republic of China
Headquarters	State Council Hall, Zhongnanhai, Beijing
Motto	"Serve the People"
Annual budget	CN¥37.2 trillion (2019)[1]
Agency executives	Li Keqiang, Premier Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua, Liu He, Vice-Premiers Wei Fenghe, Wang Yong, Wang Yi, Zhao Kezhi, State councillors
Child agencies	General Office of the State Council Cabinet-level departments
Website	english.gov.cn

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The State Council, constitutionally^[2] synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China.^[3] It is chaired by the premier and includes the heads of each of the cabinet-level executive departments.^[4] Currently, the council has 35 members: the premier, one executive vice premier, three other vice premiers, five state councillors (of whom three are also ministers and one is also the secretary-general), and 26 in charge of the Council's constituent departments.^[5] In the politics of the People's Republic of China, the Central People's Government forms one of three interlocking branches of power, the others being the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The State Council directly oversees the various subordinate People's Governments in the provinces, and in practice maintains membership with the top levels of the Chinese Communist Party.

Organization[]

The State Council meets every six months. Between meetings it is guided by a Standing Committee of the State Council of the People's Republic of China [zh] (Executive Meeting) that meets weekly. The standing committee includes the premier, one executive vice premier, three vice premiers, and five other state councillors (normally one of whom serves as Secretary-General of the State Council, and two of whom concurrently serve as ministers).

The vice-premiers and state councillors are nominated by the premier, and appointed by the president with National People's Congress' (NPC) approval. Incumbents may serve two successive five-year terms.

Each vice premier oversees certain areas of administration. Each State Councillor performs duties as designated by the Premier. The secretary-general heads the General Office which handles the day-to-day work of the State Council. The secretary-general has relatively little power and should not be confused with the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Each ministry supervises one sector. Commissions outrank ministries and set policies for and coordinate the related activities of different administrative organs. Offices deal with matters of ongoing concern. Bureaus and administrations rank below ministries.

In addition to the 25 ministries, there are 38 centrally administered government organizations that report directly to the state council. The heads of these organizations attend full meetings of the state committee on an irregular basis.

In practice, the vice premiers and State Councillors assume responsibility for one or more sectors or issues, and remain in contact with the various bodies responsible for policy related to that area. This allows the Standing Committee to oversee a wide range of government functions.

The State Council, like all other governmental bodies, is nominally responsible to the NPC and its Standing Committee in conducting a wide range of government functions both at the national and at the local levels, and nominally acts by virtue of the NPC's authority. In practice, however, the NPC had historically done little more than ratify decisions already made by the State Council. More recently, however, the NPC has taken on a more independent role. There has been at least one case where the NPC has outright rejected an initiative of the State Council and a few cases where the State Council has withdrawn or greatly modified a proposal in response to NPC opposition.

The State Council and the Chinese Communist Party are also tightly interlocked. With rare exceptions, State Councillors are high-ranking members of the CCP. Although, as Party members, they are supposed to follow Party instructions, because they tend to be senior members of the Party they also have substantial influence over what those instructions are. This results in a system which is unlike the Soviet practice in which the Party effectively controlled the State. Rather, the Party and State are fused at this level of government. The members of the State Council derive their authority from being members of the state, while as members of the Party they coordinate their activities and determine key decisions such as the naming of personnel.

There were attempts to separate the party and state in the late 1980s under Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang and have the Party in charge of formulating policy and the State Council executing policy, but these efforts were largely abandoned in the early 1990s.

As the chief administrative organ of government, its main functions are to formulate administrative measures, issue decisions and orders, and monitor their implementation; draft legislative bills for submission to the NPC or its Standing Committee; and prepare the economic plan and the state budget for deliberation and approval by the NPC. The State Council is the functional center of state power and clearinghouse for government initiatives at all levels. With the government's emphasis on economic modernization, the State Council clearly acquired additional importance and influence.

The State Council controls the Ministry for National Defense but does not control the People's Liberation Army, which is instead controlled by the Central Military Commission.

Members[]

Executive Meeting (Standing Committee)[]

Members of the Executive Meeting of the 13th State Council (March 2018 – March 2023)

#	Portrait Name	Birth year	Government posts	Duties	Party		Party positions	Functional roles
1	Li Keqiang 李克强	1955	Premier	Overall work of the State Council		CCP	Member, 19th PSC Secretary,  [zh]	Deputy Chairman, Director, Central Institutional Organization Commission Director, National Defense Mobilization Commission Director, National Energy Commission
2	Han Zheng 韩正	1954	Vice Premier (first-ranked)	Develop & reform, institutional reform, etc.		CCP	Member, 19th PSC Deputy Secretary,  [zh]
3	Sun Chunlan 孙春兰 (female)	1950	Vice Premier	Education, health, sport, etc.		CCP	Member, 19th Politburo Member,  [zh]	副组长 组长 主任 主任 主任 Leader, Leading Group for China Football Reforms
4	Hu Chunhua 胡春华	1963	Vice Premier	Agricultural and rural affairs, poverty alleviation, water resources, foreign trade		CCP	Member, 19th Politburo Member,  [zh]	总指挥 指挥长 组长
5	Liu He 刘鹤	1952	Vice Premier	Finance, science and technology, industry and transport		CCP	Member, 19th Politburo Member,  [zh]	Director of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission Office
6	General Wei Fenghe 魏凤和	1954	State Councillor and Minister of National Defense	National defense mobilization, etc.		CCP	Member, 19th Central Committee Member,  [zh] Member, Central Military Commission	Member, Central Foreign Affairs Commission Director,
7	Wang Yong 王勇	1955	State Councillor	Emergency management, etc.		CCP	Member, 19th Central Committee Member,  [zh]	成员 副主任 主任 主任 主任
8	Wang Yi 王毅	1953	State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs	Foreign affairs		CCP	Member, 19th Central Committee Member,  [zh]	Member, Central Foreign Affairs Commission
9	Xiao Jie 肖捷	1957	State Councillor and Secretary-General of the State Council	In charge of the General Office		CCP	Member, 19th Central Committee Member,  [zh] Secretary,  [zh]
10	[zh] Zhao Kezhi 赵克志	1953	State Councillor and Minister of Public Security	Public security, etc.		CCP	Member, 19th Central Committee Member,  [zh]	Member, Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission Member, 主任 组长 副主任

Plenary Meeting[]

The Plenary Meeting of State Council is hosted by the Premier, joined by Vice Premiers, State Councillors, Ministers in charge of Ministries and Commissions, the Governor of the People's Bank, the Auditor-General, and the Secretary General. It usually runs bi-annually and when necessary, non-members can be invited to participate.

Organizational structure[]

General Office of the State Council[]

• Secretary-General of the State Council
  • Deputy Secretaries-General of the State Council

Constituent Departments of the State Council (cabinet-level)[]

Constituent Departments of the 13th State Council (March 2018 – March 2023)

#	Logo	Name of Department	Year Established	Current Chief	Party		Reports To
1		Ministry of Foreign Affairs 外交部	1949 (of CPG) 1954 (of PRC)	Wang Yi 王毅 State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs		CCP	General Secretary Xi Jinping (Director of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission) ∟ Yang Jiechi (Director of the CFAC Office)
2		Ministry of National Defense 国防部	1954 (of PRC)	General Wei Fenghe 魏凤和 (Member of the Central Military Commission) State Councillor and Minister of National Defense		CCP	General Secretary Xi Jinping (Chairman of the Central Military Commission)
3		National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) 国家发展和改革委员会	2003	He Lifeng 何立峰 (Vice-Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee) Minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission		CCP	Vice-Premier Han Zheng
4		Ministry of Education (MOE) 教育部	1949 (of CPG) 1954 (of PRC)	Chen Baosheng 陈宝生 Minister of Education		CCP	Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan
5		Ministry of Science and Technology 科学技术部	1998	Wang Zhigang 王志刚 Minister of Science and Technology		CCP	Vice-Premier Liu He
6		Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) 工业和信息化部	2008	肖亚庆 Minister of Industry and Information Technology		CCP
7		National Ethnic Affairs Commission (NEAC) 国家民族事务委员会	1949 (of CPG) 1954 (of PRC)	陈小江 Minister in charge of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission		CCP	You Quan (Head of the CCP Central Committee United Front Work Department)
8		Ministry of Public Security (MPS) 公安部	1949 (of CPG) 1954 (of PRC)	[zh] Zhao Kezhi 赵克志 State Councillor and Minister of Public Security		CCP	Guo Shengkun (Secretary of the CCP Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission)
9		Ministry of State Security (MSS) 国家安全部	1983	Chen Wenqing 陈文清 Minister of State Security		CCP
10		Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) 民政部	1978	Li Jiheng 李纪恒 Minister of Civil Affairs		CCP
11		Ministry of Justice 司法部	1949 (of CPG) 1954 (of PRC) 1979 (re-established)	Tang Yijun 唐一军 Minister of Justice		CCP	Guo Shengkun (Secretary of the CCP Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission)
12		Ministry of Finance 财政部	1949 (of CPG) 1954 (of PRC)	Liu Kun 刘昆 Minister of Finance		CCP	Vice-Premier Han Zheng
13		Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) 人力资源和社会保障部	2008	Zhang Jinan 张纪南 Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security		CCP	Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua
14		Ministry Natural Resources 自然资源部	2018	Lu Hao 陆昊 Minister of Natural Resources		CCP	Vice-Premier Han Zheng
15		Ministry of Ecology and Environment 生态环境部	2018	Huang Runqiu 黄润秋 Minister of Ecology and Environment		JS
16		Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development 住房和城乡建设部	2008	Wang Menghui 王蒙徽 Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development		CCP
17		Ministry of Transport (MOT) 交通运输部	2008	Li Xiaopeng 李小鹏 Minister of Transport		CCP	Vice-Premier Liu He
18		Ministry of Water Resources 水利部	1949 (of CPG) 1954 (of PRC)	Li Guoying 李国英 Minister of Water Resources		CCP	Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua
19		Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs 农业农村部	2018	Tang Renjian 唐仁健 Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs		CCP
20		Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) 商务部	2003	Wang Wentao 汪文涛 Minister of Commerce		CCP
21		Ministry of Culture and Tourism 文化和旅游部	2018	Hu Heping 胡和平 Minister of Culture and Tourism		CCP	Huang Kunming (Head of the CCP Central Committee Propaganda Department)
22		National Health Commission 国家卫生健康委员会	2018	Ma Xiaowei 马晓伟 Minister in charge of the National Health Commission		CCP	Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan
23		Ministry of Veterans Affairs 退役军人事务部	2018	Sun Shaocheng 孙绍骋 Minister of Veterans Affairs		CCP
24		Ministry of Emergency Management 应急管理部	2018	Huang Ming 黄明 Ministry of Emergency Management		CCP	State Councillor Wang Yong
25		People's Bank of China (PBC) 中国人民银行	1948	Yi Gang 易纲 Governor of the People's Bank of China		CCP	Vice-Premier Liu He (Director of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission Office)
26		National Audit Office 审计署	1983	侯凯 Auditor-General of the National Audit Office		CCP	Premier Li Keqiang ∟ Vice-Premier Han Zheng

Special Organization directly under the State Council[]

Ministry-level

• State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) (国务院国有资产监督管理委员会), established in 2003

Organizations directly under the State Council[]

Administrative Offices of the State Council[]

Institutions directly under the State Council[]

National Administrations administrated by ministry-level agencies[]

Interdepartmental coordinating agencies[]

• National Defense Mobilization Commission (NDMC; 国家国防动员委员会), established in 1994
• National Energy Commission (NEC; 国家能源委员会), established in 2010
• Financial Stability and Development Committee (FSDC; 国务院金融稳定发展委员会), established in 2017

and many more...

Agencies dispatched by the State Council[]

See also[]

• Department of State Affairs in the Three Departments and Six Ministries system
• Ming dynasty: Central Secretariat → Grand Secretariat
• Qing dynasty: Grand Secretariat → Grand Council → Cabinet
• Republic of China: (1912–28) → Executive Yuan (1928–present)
• People's Republic of China: Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government (1949–54); Ministries of the PRC

References[]

External links[]

• Official website