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China is a unitary and socialist state whose constitution calls on the
nation to “concentrate on socialist modernization by following the road
of building socialism with Chinese characteristics” all the while
adhering to the “leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and
the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping
Theory” as well as “the important thought of the Three Represents,”
which are attributed to former CCP general secretary and president of
China Jiang Zemin. The political system is led by the
66.4-million-member CCP. Political processes are guided by the CCP
constitution and, increasingly, by the state constitution, both
promulgated in 1982. The CCP constitution was revised in 2002, and the
state constitution was amended in 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2004. Both
constitutions stress the principle of democratic centralism, under
which the representative organs of both party and state are elected by
lower bodies and in turn elect their administrative arms at
corresponding levels. Within representative and executive bodies, the
minority must abide by decisions of the majority; lower bodies obey
orders of higher-level organs. In theory, the National Party Congress
ranks as the highest organ of party power, but actual power lies in the
CCP Central Committee and its even more exclusive Political Bureau. At
the apex of all political power are the members of the elite Standing
Committee of the Political Bureau.
In September 2004 at the
Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th CCP Congress, former party, state,
and military leader Jiang Zemin completed his formal handover of
responsibilities to Hu Jintao. At the plenum, Jiang gave up his last
key position, chairmanship of the CCP Central Military Commission. With
Hu holding that position, as well as those of general secretary of the
CCP (since November 2002) and president of China (since March 2003),
the succession ostensibly was complete. However, Jiang confidants and
allies were still entrenched in key positions, and Jiang himself,
through several high-profile public appearances, indicated that he
would continue to be influential in central party and state policy
making.
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