Premier of the People's 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
Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó
Guówùyuàn Zŏnglĭ

Incumbent
Li Keqiang
since 15 March 2013
Style Mr. Premier (总理)
Type Head of the State Council
Status Head of Government
Member of Central Committee
Politburo Standing Committee
National Security Commission
Cabinet
Reports to the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee
Residence Zhongnanhai
Seat Beijing
Nominator the President (1982 - present)
the Party Central Committee
(1975-1982, president abolished)
Appointer the President, according to the decision of the National People's Congress
Term length 5 years, renewable
once consecutively
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
as the only Premier of the Government Administration Council (1949–1954)
and the first Premier (1954–1976) of the State Council
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
Website State 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
Literal meaning Chinese People Republic State Affairs Court General Manager
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 国务院总理
Traditional Chinese 國務院總理
Literal meaning State Affairs Court General Manager
China
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government 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 State Council of China (the "Central People's Government" constitutionally since 1954), who is the head of government and holds the highest rank (Level 1) in the Civil Service. This position was originally known as Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government (Chinese: 中央人民政府政务院总理) and changed to its current name in 1954.

The Premier is formally approved by the National People's Congress upon the nomination of the President. In practice, the candidate is chosen through an informal process within the Communist Party of China. Both the President and the Premier are selected once every five years. 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.

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.[1] 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.[1]

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 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 declare war against Beijing and 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

Li Keqiang Wen Jiabao Zhu Rongji Li Peng Zhao Ziyang Hua Guofeng Zhou Enlai
Simplified Chinese graphic timeline of Communist Party leadership. The red bar indicates CCP General Secretaries or Chairmen, the yellow indicating the Premiers. The gray bar delineates particular periods of mainland Chinese history from a CCP perspective.

Living former premiers

As of August 2017, there are three living former premiers:

Premier Term of office Date of birth
Li Peng 1987–1998 20 October 1928
Zhu Rongji 1998–2003 1 October 1928
Wen Jiabao 2003–2013 15 September 1942

Premier's spouse

Since the first premier, seven had a spouse during term of office.

№ Spouse Premier Tenure
1 Deng Yingchao Zhou Enlai 1 October 1949 – 8 January 1976
2 Han Zhijun Hua Guofeng 4 February 1976 – 10 September 1980
3 Liang Boqi Zhao Ziyang 10 September 1980 – 24 November 1987
4 Zhu Lin Li Peng 24 November 1987 – 17 March 1998
5 Lao An Zhu Rongji 17 March 1998 – 16 March 2003
6 Zhang Peili Wen Jiabao 16 March 2003 – 15 March 2013
7 Cheng Hong Li Keqiang 15 March 2013 – present

References

  1. 1 2 http://english.people.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html, Section 3, Article 88 and Article 89.

See also

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