Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, Chinese: 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (Chinese: 人民政协, listen) or simply the PCC (政协), 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.[1] Its members advise and put proposals for political and social issues to government bodies.[2] However, the CPPCC is a body without real legislative power.[3] While consultation does take place, it is supervised and directed by the CCP.[3]

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

中国人民政治协商会议

Zhōngguó Rénmín Zhèngzhì Xiéshāng Huìyì
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: 2158
NC-CPPCC Standing Committee: 324
NC-CPPCC political groups
  CCP, minor parties, and independents (544)

  People's organizations (315)
  Representatives of various groups (1010)

  Specially invited people (136)
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
www.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
Politics of China
Leadership
Leadership generations
Succession of power
National leaders
Orders of precedence
Related systems
Communist Party
History
Constitution
Organization
United front
Historical parties:
Ideology
Legislative
Presidency
Executive
Military
Military history
Supervision
Propaganda
Cross-Strait relations
Foreign relations
Related topics
flag China portal

The body traditionally consists of delegates from the CCP and its front organizations, eight legally-permitted political parties subservient to the CCP, as well as nominally independent members.[4][5][6] The CPPCC is chaired by a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.[7] 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.[8]

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 constitution 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.[1][9] The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (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') 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. 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."[10] 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."[10] The composition of the members of the CPPCC changes over time according to national strategic priorities.[11] 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.[12]

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 Communist Party 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. This conference was then renamed the People's Political Consultative Conference. The first conference approved the Common Program, which served as the de facto constitution for the next five years. 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. 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.

Present role

The CPPCC is the "peak united front forum, bringing together CCP officials and Chinese elites."[7] The CPPCC includes the CCP, eight small legally-permitted parties, and independent nonparty "friends."[13] It provides a "seat" for the non-communist parties and so-called "patriotic democrats."[13] 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."[13] This constitutional principle obliges the CCP to consult the others on all major policy issues.[13] Particularly since the 2000s, CPPCC members frequently petition the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party regarding socioeconomic, health, and environmental issues.[13]

"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[14]

According to state media Xinhua News Agency, it is neither a body of state power nor a policymaking organ, but a platform for participating in state affairs.[15]

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

The National Committee CPPCC is the national level organization that represents the CPPCC nationally and is made up of deputies coming from various sectors of society. Deputies of the NC-CPPCC are elected for 5 year terms.

The chairman of the NC-CPPCC, currently Wang Huning, is a high-ranking office in the country, with the holder generally being a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the country's top decision-making body. The chairman is assisted by several vice chairpersons and a secretary-general.

The CCP and the aligned "democratic parties" participate in the NC-CPPCC. Besides political parties, NC-CPPCC has also delegates from various sectors of society in its ranks.[16] The parties and groups with delegates to the NC-CPPCC are as follows:

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 Science
  • 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 the Ethnic Minorities
  • Sector of Religions
  • Specially Invited Hong Kong Representatives
  • Specially Invited Macao Representatives
  • Other Specially Invited Dignitaries to the Conference

Standing Committee

In between plenary sessions of the National Committee the duties of the CPPCC are performed by the Standing Committee of the NC-CPPCC. It is responsible for all actions taken by the whole of the National Committee of the Conference or by individual deputies of it. Faction leaders of the National Committee lead the sectoral or party delegations in the Standing Committee that are assigned seats.

Special Committees

The CPPCC National Committee has 10 Special Committees:

  1. Handling Proposals Committee (提案委员会)
  2. Economic Affairs Committee (经济委员会)
  3. Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee (农业和农村委员会)
  4. Population, Resources and Environment Committee (人口资源环境委员会)
  5. Education, Science, Health and Sports Committee (教科卫体委员会)
  6. Social and Legal Affairs Committee (社会和法制委员会)
  7. Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee (民族和宗教委员会)
  8. Culture, History and Study Committee (文化文史和学习委员会)
  9. Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese Committee (港澳台侨委员会)
  10. Foreign Affairs Committee (外事委员会)

Composition of members

2158 members in the 13th National Committee of CPPCC:[17]

Seats for Political Parties (536 in all)
Seats for People's organizations (307 in all)
Seats for Sectoral representatives (1357 in all)

The People’s Political Consultative Daily

The People’s Political Consultative Daily (《人民政协报》) is the press window of information on direct policies and viewpoints of the CPPCC. Like most of the Chinese political organs, the newspaper serves as the mouthpiece for the conference.

Regional committees

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:

  • 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. 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.
  2. Tiezzi, Shannon. "What Is the CPPCC Anyway?". The Diplomat. Retrieved 2022-08-21.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Rees-Bloor, Natasha (2016-03-15). "China's largest political conference – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
  6. "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.
  7. Joske, Alex (2020). The party speaks for you: Foreign interference and the Chinese Communist Party's united front system (Report). Australian Strategic Policy Institute. JSTOR resrep25132.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. "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.
  15. Q&A: Roles and functions of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Archived 2018-09-21 at the Wayback Machine www.xinhuanet.com
  16. "Charter of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference". www.cppcc.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  17. 中国人民政治协商会议第十二届全国委员会委员名单. www.cppcc.gov.cn (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2018-01-06. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
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