The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of China. Although the parent NPC officially has superiority over the Standing Committee, and certain authorities are not delegated, the Standing Committee is generally viewed to have more de facto power, as the NPC convenes only once a year for two weeks, leaving its Standing Committee the only body that regularly drafts and approves decisions and laws.
The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's congresses. This system is based on the principle of unified state power, in which the legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), is constitutionally enshrined as "the highest state organ of power." As China's political system has no separation of powers, there is only one branch of government which is represented by the legislature. The CCP through the NPC enacts unified leadership, which requires that all state organs, from the Supreme People's Court to the President of the People's Republic of China, are elected by, answerable to, and have no separate powers than those granted to them by the NPC. The CCP controls appointments in all state bodies through a two-thirds majority in the NPC. The remaining seats are held by nominally independent delegates and eight minor political parties, which are non-oppositional and support the CCP. All government bodies and state-owned enterprises have internal CCP committees that lead the decision-making in these institutions.
The vice president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the vice president of China, is the deputy to the president of the People's Republic of China, the state representative of China.
The chairman of the Central Military Commission is the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP) and the Militia. The officeholder is additionally vested with the command authority over China's nuclear arsenals.
The 9th National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1998 to 2003. It held five plenary sessions in this period. It followed the final session of the 8th National People's Congress. There were 2,979 deputies to this Congress.
The 8th National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1993 to 1998. It succeeded the 7th National People's Congress. It held five sessions in this period.
The 7th National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1988 to 1993. It held five sessions in this period.
The 5th National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1978 to 1983. It succeeded the 4th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions in this period.
The 3rd National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1964 to 1975. It held only one session in the ten years due to the disruption caused by the ongoing Cultural Revolution launched by Chairman Mao Zedong after 1966.
The 2nd National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1959 to 1964. It held four sessions in this period.
The 1st National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1954 to 1959. It held four sessions in this period. There were 1,226 deputies to the Congress. These were the first legislative elections to take place after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of China.
A state councillor is a high-ranking position within the State Council, the executive organ of the Chinese government. It ranks immediately below the vice premiers and above the ministers of various departments. Similar to minister without portfolio, the position carries duties unspecified at the time of appointment, although state councillor may also be appointed to head a department.
The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China. The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the State Council to the Supreme People's Court (SPC) are subservient to it. With 2,977 members in 2023, it is the largest legislative body in the world. The NPC is elected for a term of five years. It holds annual sessions every spring, usually lasting from 10 to 14 days, in the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
The Presidium of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China is the presiding body of the National People's Congress (NPC) when its in session.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress is one of nine special committees of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. The special committee was created during the first session of the 6th National People's Congress in June 1983, and has existed for every National People's Congress since.
The president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the president of China, is the state representative of the People's Republic of China. The presidency is a part of the system of people's congress based on the principle of unified power in which the National People's Congress (NPC) functions as the highest state organ of power. The presidency is a state organ of the NPC and equivalent to, for instance, the State Council and the National Supervisory Commission, rather than a political office, unlike the premier of the State Council. The president can engage in state affairs and receive foreign diplomatic envoys on behalf of China, but to perform other head of state functions, the president needs the consent of the NPC or the NPC Standing Committee. While the presidency is not a powerful organ in itself, since 27 March 1993, the president has concurrently served as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission, making the incumbent China's paramount leader and supreme commander of the armed forces.
The 13th National People's Congress (NPC) was elected from October 2017 to February 2018 and was in session in the five-year period from 2018 to 2023. It held five sessions in this period, occurring around early March every year until before 2023, when the 14th National People's Congress first convened.
The 2023 National People's Congress, officially the First Session of the 14th National People's Congress, was held in March 2023 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. The session opened on 5 March and concluded on 13 March. Major state positions of China were elected in this session.
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