Premier of the People's Republic of China

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Not to be confused with Premier of the Republic of China.
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国国务院总理
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National Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Dmitry Medvedev and Li Keqiang 20191101 (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Li Keqiang
since 15 March 2013
StyleMr Premier (总理)
(informal)
His Excellency (阁下)
(diplomatic)
TypeHead of government
Member of
Reports to
ResidenceZhongnanhai
SeatRegent Palace, Zhongnanhai, Beijing
AppointerPresident
Term lengthFive years, renewable once
Constituting instrumentConstitution of the People's Republic of China
Inaugural holderZhou Enlai[note 1]
Formation1 October 1949; 72 years ago (1949-10-01)
Unofficial namesPrime Minister
DeputyVice Premier
SalaryCN¥152,121
(US$22,000)[1]
WebsiteState Council
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
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
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese国务院总理
Traditional Chinese國務院總理
Politics of China
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Leadership
Leadership generations
Succession of power
National leaders
Orders of precedence
Related systems
Communist Party
History
Constitution
Organization
United Front
Historical parties:
Ideology
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Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China portal

The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, sometimes also referred to informally as the "prime minister", is the head of the central 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.

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 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through deliberations by incumbent Politburo members and retired Politburo Standing Committee members as part of the process of determining membership in the incoming new CCP Politburo Standing Committee. Under this informal process, the eventual future premier is initially chosen as first vice-premier before assuming the position of premier during a subsequent round leadership transitions.[2] 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 CCP Central Politburo.

The incumbent premier is Li Keqiang, who took office on 15 March 2013. He succeeded Wen Jiabao.

Powers and duties[edit]

The premier is the highest administrative position in the Government 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.[3] 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 role and responsibilities are codified into the constitution unlike a prime minister's from the Westminster system as by convention or traditions.[3]

The premier does not have command authority over the People's Liberation Army, but 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 Central Military Commission chairman Deng Xiaoping, was able to use the office of the Premier to order the military crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[citation needed]

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[edit]

For a more comprehensive list, see List of premiers of the People's Republic of China.
Li KeqiangWen JiabaoZhu RongjiLi PengZhao ZiyangHua GuofengZhou Enlai

Living former premiers[edit]

As of November 2021, there are two living former premiers:

Premier Term of office Date of birth
Zhu Rongji 1998–2003 (1928-10-23) 23 October 1928 (age 93)
Wen Jiabao 2003–2013 (1942-09-15) 15 September 1942 (age 79)

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ as the only Premier of the Government Administration Council (1949–1954) and also the first Premier (1954–1976) of the State Council.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "China's backroom power brokers block reform candidates". Southern China Mourning Post. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b http://english.people.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html Archived 2009-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, Section 3, Article 88 and Article 89.

External links[edit]

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