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The
People’s Congress System
All power in China belongs to the people.
The organs through which the people exercise state power are the
NPC and the local people’s congresses. Therefore, the people’s congress
system is China’s fundamental political system. Its basic characteristics
are: It has extensive representation, and is the basic form for
the people to administer the country. It follows the principle of
democratic centralism, i.e., it guarantees that the people enjoy
extensive democracy and rights, at the same time guaranteeing that
state power is exercised in a centralized and unified way. Under
the premise that the people’s congresses exercise the state power
in a unified way, the state’s administrative power, judicial authority,
procuratorial authority and the leadership over the armed forces
are clearly divided to ensure that the organs of state power and
administrative, judicial, procuratorial and other state organs work
in a coordinated way.
Deputies to the people’s congresses
at all levels are elected, and are responsible to and accept supervision
by the people. The deputies are broadly representative; they include
people from all ethnic groups, all walks of life, and all regions,
classes and strata. As they come from the people, they maintain close
ties with their respective constituencies and the electorates, and
earnestly listen to their views and demands. When the congresses meet
to discuss issues concerning major policies and principles, they can
air their views fully and carry out the decisions after they have
been made. Hence, the people’s views can be collected and the people
can administer state affairs through the people’s congresses.
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