Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

中国人民政治协商会议

Zhōngguó Rénmín Zhèngzhì Xiéshāng Huìyì
14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Type
Type
Popular United Front
Organ for Multi-party Cooperation and Political Consultation
Constitutional convention (Historical)
History
FoundedSeptember 21, 1949 (1949-09-21)
Preceded byNational Assembly
Leadership
Main Organ
Plenary Session & Standing Committee of National Committee, CPPCC
Plenum of the CPPCC (Historical)
Structure
SeatsNC-CPPCC: 2169
NC-CPPCC Standing Committee: 324
NC-CPPCC political groups
  CCP, minor parties, and independents (544)

  People's organizations (313)
  Representatives of various groups (1076)

  Specially invited people (236)
NC-CPPCC Standing Committee political groups
  CCP, minor parties, and independents (193)

  People's organizations (30)
  Representatives of various groups (67)
  Specially invited people (33)

  Vacant (1)
Length of term
5 years
Meeting place
Great Hall of the People, Xicheng District, Beijing City, People's Republic of China
Website
en.cppcc.gov.cn
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Simplified Chinese中国人民政治协商会议
Traditional Chinese中國人民政治協商會議
Short form
Simplified Chinese人民政协
Traditional Chinese人民政協
Literal meaningPeople's Political Consultation
Shortest form
Simplified Chinese政协
Traditional Chinese政協
Literal meaningPolitical Consultation
Third alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese新政协
Traditional Chinese新政協
Literal meaningNew Political Consultation

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, Chinese: 中国人民政治协商会议) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s united front system. Its members advise and put proposals for political and social issues to government bodies.[1] However, the CPPCC is a body without real legislative power.[2] While consultation does take place, it is supervised and directed by the CCP.[2]

The body traditionally consists of delegates from the CCP and its people's organizations, eight legally-permitted political parties subservient to the CCP, as well as nominally independent members.[3][4][5] The CPPCC is chaired by a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP. In keeping with the united front strategy, prominent non-CCP members have been included among the Vice Chairs, examples being Chen Shutong, Li Jishen and Soong Ching-ling.[6]

The organizational hierarchy of the CPPCC consists of a National Committee and regional committees. Regional committees extend to the provincial, prefecture, and county level. According to the charter of the CPPCC, the relationship between the National Committee and the regional committees is one of guidance and not direct leadership. However, an indirect leadership exists via the United Front Work Department at each level.[7][8] The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference typically holds a yearly meeting at the same time as plenary sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC). The CPPCC National Committee and NPC plenary sessions are collectively called the Quanguo Lianghui ("National Two Sessions").

The CPPCC is intended to be more representative of a broader range of people than is typical of government office in the People's Republic of China, including a broad range of people from the both inside and outside the CCP. The composition of the members of the CPPCC changes over time according to national strategic priorities.[9] Previously dominated by senior figures in real-estate, state-owned enterprises, and "princelings", the CPPCC in 2018 was primarily composed of individuals from China's technology sector.[10]

History

The first Plenum of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1949

The Conference dated prior to the existence of the People's Republic of China. During negotiations between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang in 1945, the two parties agreed to open multiparty talks on post-World War II political reforms via a Political Consultative Conference. This was included in the Double Tenth Agreement. This agreement was implemented by the National Government of the Republic of China, who organized the first Political Consultative Assembly from January 10–31, 1946. Representatives of the Kuomintang, CCP, Chinese Youth Party, and China Democratic League, as well as independent delegates, attended the conference in Chongqing.

In 1949, with the CCP having gained control of most of mainland China, they organized a "new" Political Consultative Conference in September, inviting delegates from various friendly parties to attend and discuss the establishment of a new state.[2] This conference was then renamed the People's Political Consultative Conference. On September 29, 1949, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference unanimously adopted the Common Program as the basic political program for the country.[11]: 25  The conference approved the new national anthem, flag, capital city, and state name, and elected the first government of the People's Republic of China.[2] In effect, the first People's Political Consultative Conference served as a constitutional convention.

From 1949 to 1954, the conference became the de facto legislature of the PRC. In 1954, the Constitution transferred this function to the National People's Congress.

During the Hundred Flowers Campaign between 1956 and 1957, Mao Zedong encouraged members of the CPPCC to speak about the shortcomings of the CCP. However, those who did faced severe repercussions such as heavy criticism and or incarceration in labor camps in the subsequent Anti-Rightist Campaign.[2]

The CPPCC was effectively decimated during the Cultural Revolution. It was revived during the First Session of its 5th National Committee between 24 February to 8 March 1974, during which Deng Xiaoping was elected as its chairman.[2]

When plans for the Sanxia (Three Gorges) Dam were revived by the CCP during the emphasis on the Four Modernizations during the early period of Reform and Opening Up, the CPPCC became a center of opposition to the project.[12]: 204  It convened panels of experts who recommended delaying the project.[12]: 204 

Present role

The CPPCC is the highest-ranking body in the united front system.[7] It is the "peak united front forum, bringing together CCP officials and Chinese elites."[13] According to Sinologist Peter Mattis, the CPPCC is "the one place where all the relevant actors inside and outside the party come together: party elders, intelligence officers, diplomats, propagandists, soldiers and political commissars, united front workers, academics, and businesspeople."[14] In practice, the CPPCC serves as "the place where messages are developed and distributed among party members and the non-party faithful who shape perceptions of the CCP and China."[14]

The CPPCC includes delegates from the CCP and its people's organizations, eight legally-permitted political parties subservient to the CCP, as well as nominally independent members or "friends".[15] Party members are invited to the CPPCC by the party's Organization Department.[16]: 61 

The CPPCC provides a "seat" for the non-communist parties and so-called "patriotic democrats."[15] The CPPCC also reserves seats for overseas delegates,[17] as well as delegates from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.[1] Non-communist party members of the CPPCC are invited by the party's United Front Work Department.[16]: 61 

The conception of the non-communist parties as part of a coalition rather than an opposition is expressed in the PRC's constitutional principle of "political consultation and multiparty cooperation."[15] In principle, the CCP is obliged to consult the others on all major policy issues.[15] In the early 2000s, CPPCC members frequently petitioned the CCP Central Committee regarding socioeconomic, health, and environmental issues.[15]

"The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a broadly based representative organization of the united front which has played a significant historical role, will play a still more important role in the country’s political and social life, in promoting friendship with other countries and in the struggle for socialist modernization and for the reunification and unity of the country. The system of the multi-party cooperation and political consultation led by the Communist Party of China will exist and develop for a long time to come."

—Preamble of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China[18]

According to state media Xinhua News Agency, it is an "organization in the patriotic united front of the Chinese people". It continues that the CPPCC is neither a body of state power nor a policymaking organ, but a platform for "various political parties, people's organizations, and people of all ethnic groups and from all sectors of society" to participate in state affairs.[19]

As a united front organ, the CPPCC works together with the CCP's United Front Work Department. According to Mattis, the CPPCC gathers the society's elite, while the UFWD "implements policy and handles the nuts and bolts of united front work". The UFWD oversees several people's organizations which constitute the membership of the CPPCC.[14]

National Committee

Building of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

The National Committee CPPCC (Chinese: 中国人民政治协商会议全国委员会; pinyin: Zhōngguó Rénmín Zhèngzhì Xiéshāng Huìyì Quánguó Wěiyuánhuì, shortened Chinese: 全国政协; pinyin: Quánguó Zhèngxié; lit. 'National PCC') is the national level organization that represents the CPPCC nationally and is made up of deputies coming from various sectors of society. Members of the National Committee are elected for five year terms, though this can be extended in exceptional circumstances by a two-thirds majority vote by all members of the Standing Committee.[20]

The National Committee holds plenary sessions annually, though a session can be called by the National Committee's Standing Committee if necessary.[20] The plenary sessions are generally held in March, around the same date as the annual session of the National People's Congress; together, these meetings are termed as the Two Sessions.[21] During the Two Sessions, the CPPCC and the NPC hear and discuss reports from the premier, the chief prosecutor, and the chief justice.[16]: 61–62  The plenary session makes amendments to the CPPCC charter, elects a Standing Committee, which handles the regular affairs of the body, and adopts resolutions on National Committee's "major working principles and tasks".[20] The Standing Committee is responsible for choosing the CPPCC's membership, implementing CPPCC's resolutions, and interpreting the CPPCC's charter.[20]

The National Committee is led by a chairman, currently Wang Huning, one of the highest-ranking offices in the country; since its establishment, all CPPCC chairpersons have been a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP except during transition periods, being at least its 4th-ranking member.[14][22] The chairman is assisted by several vice chairpersons and a secretary-general, who heads the National Committee's General Office; together, they make up the Chairperson's Council, which handles the day-to-day affairs of the Standing Committee and meets on average of at least once a month.[14][20] The Council meetings coordinate work reports, review united front work, identify the issues to focus and highlight important ideological directions of the CCP.[14] It also presides over the preparatory meeting of the first plenary session of the next National Committee.[20]

The CCP and the aligned "democratic parties" participate in the National Committee. Besides political parties, NC-CPPCC has also delegates from various sectors of society in its ranks.[23] Members include scientists, academics, writers, artists, retired government officials, and entrepreneurs, among other sectors.[16]: 61  The parties and groups with delegates to the NC-CPPCC are as follows:[24]

National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Political parties People's organizations Representatives of various groups Special guests
  • Sector of Literature and Arts
  • Sector of Science and Technology
  • Sector of Social Sciences
  • Sector of Economics
  • Sector of Agriculture
  • Sector of Education
  • Sector of Sports
  • Sector of Press and Publication
  • Sector of Medicine and Health
  • Sector of International Friendship Activists
  • Sector of Social Welfare and Social Security
  • Sector of Environment and Resources
  • Sector of the Ethnic Minorities
  • Sector of Religious Bodies
  • Specially Invited Hong Kong Representatives
  • Specially Invited Macao Representatives
  • Other Specially Invited Dignitaries to the Conference

Special Committees

The CPPCC National Committee contains several Special Committees, which are headed by the Standing Committee. The Special Committees generally have around sixty individual members, including a chair and ten or more vice chairs. Like the main Conference, the Special Committees include a wide range of people from the relevant sectors.[14] The CPPCC National Committee currently has 10 Special Committees:[24]

  1. Committee for Handling Proposals
  2. Committee for Economic Affairs
  3. Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
  4. Committee of Population, Resources and Environment
  5. Committee of Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports
  6. Committee for Social and Legal Affairs
  7. Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs
  8. Committee for Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese
  9. Committee of Foreign Affairs
  10. Culture, History and Study Committee

The People’s Political Consultative Daily

The People’s Political Consultative Daily is the official newspaper of the CPPCC.

Regional committees

In addition to the main National Committee, the CPPCC contains numerous regional committees at the provincial, prefecture, and county level.[20] According to an old post in CPPCC's website, there were 3,164 local CPPCC committees at every level by the end of 2006, containing around 615,164 members.[14] Like the National Committee, the regional committees serve for five years, have a chairperson, vice chairpersons and a secretary-general, convene plenary sessions at least once a year, and have a standing committee.[20] According to the CPPCC charter, the relationship between the National Committee and the local committees, as well as the relationship between the local committee and lower-level committees is "one of guidance".[25]

The following regional committees are modelled after the National Committee with identical composition of deputies elected to them and are each supervised by regional level Standing Committees:[2][20]

  • CPPCC province-level committees
    • including regional committees of the autonomous regions and city committees of directly controlled municipal governments (Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Shanghai)
  • CPPCC prefecture-level committees
    • including autonomous prefectural committees and city committees of sub-provincial and prefectural cities
  • CPPCC county-level committees
    • including committees of autonomous counties and country-level cities

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Tiezzi, Shannon (4 March 2021). "What Is the CPPCC Anyway?". The Diplomat. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Colin Mackerras; Donald Hugh McMillen; Andrew Watson (2001). Dictionary of the Politics of the People's Republic of China. London: Routledge. p. 70. ISBN 0-203-45072-8. OCLC 57241932.
  3. ↑ Pauw, Alan Donald (1981). "Chinese Democratic Parties as a Mass Organization". Asian Affairs. 8 (6): 372–390. doi:10.1080/00927678.1981.10553834. ISSN 0092-7678. JSTOR 30171852.
  4. ↑ Rees-Bloor, Natasha (2016-03-15). "China's largest political conference – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  5. ↑ "The United Front in Communist China" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. May 1957. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  6. ↑ Shih, Wen (1963-03-01). "Political Parties in Communist China". Asian Survey. 3 (3): 157–164. doi:10.2307/3023623. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 3023623.
  7. 1 2 Bowe, Alexander (August 24, 2018). "China's Overseas United Front Work: Background and Implications for the United States" (PDF). United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  8. ↑ Dotson, John (May 29, 2020). "Themes from the CPPCC Signal the End of Hong Kong Autonomy—and the Effective End of the "One Country, Two Systems" Framework". Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 2020-06-07. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  9. ↑ Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (2016-03-03). "Advisory Body's Delegates Offer Glimpse Into China's Worries". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  10. ↑ Yu, Xie; Leng, Sidney (2018-03-04). "Tech entrepreneurs dominate as China's political advisers in IT push". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  11. ↑ Zheng, Qian (2020). Zheng, Qian (ed.). An Ideological History of the Communist Party of China. Vol. 2. Translated by Sun, Li; Bryant, Shelly. Montreal, Quebec: Royal Collins Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4878-0391-9.
  12. 1 2 Harrell, Stevan (2023). An Ecological History of Modern China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295751719.
  13. ↑ Joske, Alex (June 9, 2020). "The party speaks for you: Foreign interference and the Chinese Communist Party's united front system". Australian Strategic Policy Institute. JSTOR resrep25132. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cole, J. Michael; Hsu, Szu-chien (2020-07-30). Insidious Power: How China Undermines Global Democracy. Eastbridge Books. pp. 3–39. ISBN 978-1-78869-213-7.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Lin, Chun (2006). The transformation of Chinese socialism. Durham [N.C.]: Duke University Press. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-8223-3785-0. OCLC 63178961.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Li, David Daokui (2024). China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393292398.
  17. ↑ Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (11 February 2020). "China's 'overseas delegates' connect Beijing to the Chinese diaspora". The Strategist. Australian Strategic Policy Institute. These overseas delegates are a way for Beijing to draw on the talent and connections of overseas Chinese to help expand the party's influence and popularity abroad.
  18. ↑ "The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China". www.npc.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2016-02-06. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  19. ↑ "Q&A: Roles and functions of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference". Xinhua News Agency. 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Charter of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chapter IV: National Committee". Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  21. ↑ Davidson, Helen (2023-03-01). "Explainer: what is China's 'two sessions' gathering, and why does it matter?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  22. ↑ Joske, Alex (June 9, 2020). "The party speaks for you: Foreign interference and the Chinese Communist Party's united front system". Australian Strategic Policy Institute. JSTOR resrep25132. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Charter of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference". Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Archived from the original on 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  24. 1 2 "The CPPCC". Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  25. ↑ "Charter of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chapter II: General Organizational Principles". Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. 27 December 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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