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1 [1] (April 27, 2026)

handle is hein.crs/goveuct0001 and id is 1 raw text is: China Primer: China's Political System The People's Republic of China (PRC, or China) is the only Communist Party-led state among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and among the G-20 major economies. This report provides a brief introduction to its political system. The Party-State The PRC is a Leninist party-state. The Communist Party of China (CPC), also known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is China's dominant political institution. It operates a powerful and expansive bureaucracy and, per the CPC Constitution, exercises overall leadership over all areas of endeavor in every part of the country. The Party tasks the government with administration. Interlocking Party and government hierarchies extend down to the level of small towns, with the Party leader at every level outranking his (or occasionally her) government counterpart. Provincial Party secretaries outrank governors, and municipal Party secretaries outrank mayors. Xi Jinping, 72, leads the PRC party-state. He has served since 2012 as CPC general secretary and chairman of the Updated April 27, 2026 CPC Central Military Commission (CMC), the body that oversees the Party's armed wing. Since 2013, Xi also has served as PRC president, a head-of-state position with limited responsibilities. Xi broke norms by claiming third five-year terms in his Party and state posts starting in 2022 and 2023. He has not indicated whether he will seek fourth five-year terms in his Party posts at the CPC's 21st National Congress, to be held in the second half of 2027. The Communist Party of China The CPC, officially founded in 1921, established the PRC on October 1, 1949. Today, the CPC's 100.3 million members constitute 7% of China's population. All members applied and underwent vetting to join. The Party's apex institution is the 205-member Central Committee, with General Secretary Xi as its core. An all-male, 23-person subset of the Central Committee serves on its elite Political Bureau (Politburo). A seven-person subset of the Politburo serves on the Politburo Standing Committee, China's top decisionmaking body. (Figure 1.) The Central Committee meets for a plenum at least once annually. Figure I. 20th CPC Hierarchy (left) and Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee (right) Chairman, General Secretary, Central Military Central Committee Commission *Mmbers Political Bureau Memberm (Politburo) Standing -- Committee * Xi Jinping 0 (b e 19s3 General secretary, CPC Centrai Committee Chairrman, CPC anrd State Central Miiary Commissions State President Li QiangO (b.AJly 1959) State Cound Cal QI 0 (b,.December 1955) Secretary,C(PC (entrai Committee ecretarit; Director, CPC Central Committee Genierai Oiffice Zhao LejiG (& March 1957) Chairperson,NatiornaI Peopiefs (ongress Ding Xuexlang 0 (b September 1962) Vc Premie: St Conal Wang HuningO (WOctober 1955) Chairperson, Chinese People s PolitiaI onsultative Conference LI XI0 (tk.October 1956) Secretary,C(PC Central Commnissoionfor Discipline inspection Source: CRS graphic by Mari Y. Lee, based on data from the Communist Party of China's news portal, http://cpc.people.com.cn. Notes: Data current as of April 27, 2026. Politburo Standing Committee members are listed in rank order. Since the 20th CPC National Congress in October 2022, the Central Committee has lost 14 members (12 expelled, I resigned, I died) and promoted 14 alternate members to fill its vacancies. The Politburo has lost one member (expelled), with two members under investigation. The 20th Central Military Commission has lost three members (expelled); two of the remaining four are under investigation. https'/crrepo