Premier of the People's Republic of China
The Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, sometimes also referred to informally as the "Prime Minister", is the leader of the executive of the government of China and is the holder of the highest rank in the Civil Service. This position replaced the role of Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government (Chinese: 中央人民政府政务院总理), which existed from 1949 to 1954.
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国国务院总理 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Guówùyuàn Zǒnglǐ | |
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![]() Emblem of the People's Republic of China | |
Style | Mr. Premier (总理) (formal) His Excellency (阁下) (in international correspondence) |
Type | Head of the State Council |
Status | Head of Government |
Member of | Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee National Security Commission State Council (Cabinet) Plenary Meeting of the State Council Executive Meeting of the State Council |
Reports to | National People's Congress and its Standing Committee |
Residence | Zhongnanhai |
Seat | Regent Palace, Zhongnanhai, Beijing |
Nominator | President (1982–present) the Party Central Committee (1975–1982, president abolished) |
Appointer | President, according to the decision of the National People's Congress |
Term length | Five years renewable once |
Constituting instrument | Constitution of the People's Republic of China |
Precursor | Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government |
Inaugural holder | Zhou Enlai[note 1] |
Formation | 27 September 1954 (State Council of the PRC) 1 October 1949 (Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government) |
Unofficial names | Prime Minister of China |
Deputy | Vice Premier State Councillor |
Salary | ¥152,121 RMB ($22,000 USD)[1] |
Website | State Council |
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 中华人民共和国国务院总理 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 中華人民共和國國務院總理 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Chinese People Republic State Affairs Court General Manager | ||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 国务院总理 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 國務院總理 | ||||||
Literal meaning | State Affairs Court General Manager | ||||||
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The Premier is formally approved by the National People's Congress upon the nomination of the President. In practice, the candidate is chosen within the Communist Party of China through the same process that determines the composition of the Politburo Standing Committee. Both the President and the Premier are selected once every five years. The premier is limited to two terms, but the president is not. The Premier has always been a member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China.
The current Premier is Li Keqiang, who took office on 15 March 2013. He succeeded Wen Jiabao.
Powers and duties
The Premier is the highest administrative position in the Government of the People's Republic of China. The Premier is responsible for organizing and administering the Chinese civil bureaucracy. For example, the Premier is tasked with planning and implementing national economic, social development and the state budget.[2] This includes overseeing the various ministries, departments, commissions and statutory agencies and announcing their candidacies to the National People's Congress for Vice-Premiers, State Councillors and ministerial offices. The Premier's powers and responsibilities are codified into the constitution unlike the Prime Minister from the Westminster system as by convention or traditions.[2]
The Premier does not have command authority over the People's Liberation Army, but the Premier is the head of the National Defense Mobilization Commission of China and deputy head of the National Security Commission which are departments of the armed forces. Since the 1980s, there has been a division of responsibilities between the Premier and the General Secretary of the Communist Party wherein the Premier is responsible for the technical details of implementing government policy while the General Secretary gathers the political support necessary for government policy.
In 1989, then Premier Li Peng, in cooperation with the then Chairman of the Central Military Commission Deng Xiaoping, was able to use the office of the Premier to order the military crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
The Premier has been supported by four Vice-Premiers since Deng Xiaoping's reform in 1983. The First-ranked Vice Premier will act in the premier's capacity in their absence.
List of premiers
- 1st — Zhou Enlai
(served: 1949–1976) - 2nd — Hua Guofeng
(served: 1976–1980) - 3rd — Zhao Ziyang
(served: 1980–1987) - 4th — Li Peng
(served: 1987–1998) - 5th — Zhu Rongji
(served: 1998–2003) - 6th — Wen Jiabao
(served: 2003–2013) - 7th — Li Keqiang
(served: 2013–present)
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Living former premiers
As of August 2020, there are two living former premiers:
Premier | Term of office | Date of birth |
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Zhu Rongji | 1998–2003 | 23 October 1928 |
Wen Jiabao | 2003–2013 | 15 September 1942 |
See also
- List of premiers of China
- List of premiers of the People's Republic of China
- List of leaders of the People's Republic of China
- Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
- President of the People's Republic of China
- Prime Minister of China (disambiguation)
- List of Chinese leaders
- Paramount leader
- Political position ranking of PRC
Notes
- as the only Premier of the Government Administration Council (1949–1954) and also the first Premier (1954–1976) of the State Council.
References
- "Public employees get salary increase - China - Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2019-06-05. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
- http://english.people.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html Archived 2009-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, Section 3, Article 88 and Article 89.