| Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China | |
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| 中华人民共和国国务院总理 | |
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| State Council of the People's Republic of China | |
| Style | Comrade (同志) (formal) His Excellency (阁下) (diplomatic) |
| Type | Head of government |
| Status | National-level official |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | National People's Congress and itsStanding Committee |
| Residence | Premier's Office,Zhongnanhai,Beijing |
| Seat | Beijing |
| Nominator | President (chosen within theChinese Communist Party) |
| Appointer | National People's Congress (by acclamation) |
| Term length | Five years, renewable once consecutively |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of China |
| Precursor | Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government |
| Inaugural holder | Yikuang (Qing dynasty) Zhou Enlai (current form) |
| Formation | 8 May 1911; 114 years ago (1911-05-08) (Premier of the Imperial Cabinet) 12 March 1912; 113 years ago (1912-03-12) (Republican era) 1 October 1949; 76 years ago (1949-10-01) (Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government) 27 September 1954; 71 years ago (1954-09-27) (Premier of the State Council) |
| Unofficial names | Prime Minister |
| Deputy | Vice Premier State councillor |
| Salary | CN¥150,000 per annumest. (2015)[1] |
| Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China | |||||||
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| 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 | ||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 国务院总理 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 國務院總理 | ||||||
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Thepremier of China, officially thePremier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, is thehead of government of thePeople's Republic of China (PRC) and leader of theState Council. The post of prime minister was established in 1911 near the end of theQing dynasty, but the current post dates to 1954, five years after theestablishment of the PRC. The premier is thethird-highest ranking official in China'spolitical system after thegeneral secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (party leader) and thepresident (state representative), and holds the highest rank in thecivil service of the central government.
The premier presides over theplenary andexecutive meetings of the State Council, and assumes overall leadership over the State Council's work. The premier delivers agovernment work report at the annual session of the NPC. The premier also signs administrative regulations passed by the State Council and signs the orders approving the appointment and removal of deputy-ministerial level officials of the State Council, as well aschief executives of Hong Kong andof Macau. The premier additionally has the authority to impose martial law. The premier is assisted by four vice premiers and state councillors in their duties. The premier heads theLeading Party Members Group of the State Council. In China's political system, the premier has generally thought to be the one responsible for managing the economy.
The premier is constitutionally appointed by theNational People's Congress (NPC) after being nominated by the president, and responsible to it and its Standing Committee. The premier serves for a five-year term, renewable once consecutively. Every premier has been a member of theCCP Politburo Standing Committee since the PRC's founding in 1949, except during brief transition periods. The incumbent premier isLi Qiang, who took office on 11 March 2023, succeedingLi Keqiang.
In the early 1900s, theQing dynasty government began implementing constitutional reform in China in order to prevent a revolution. The reforms included theOutline of the Imperial Constitution passed in 1908, which ordered that elections for provincial assemblies must be held within a year. In May 1911, the government replaced theGrand Council with a thirteen-membercabinet, led byPrince Qing, who was appointedPrime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. However, the cabinet included nineManchus, seven of whom were members of theimperial clan. This "Princes' Cabinet" was unpopular among the people and was viewed as a reactionary measure, being described at one point as "the old Grand Council under the name of a cabinet,autocracy under the name of constitutionalism."[2]
When theWuchang Uprising broke out in November 1911, the imperial court summoned the generalYuan Shikai to command theBeiyang Army and put down therevolution. He was named Prime Minister on 2 November 1911, shortly after Prince Qing stepped down. He remained in that office until March 1912, when he negotiated withEmpress Dowager Longyu the abdication of theXuantong Emperor.[2] However, the post was briefly revived in July 1917 duringZhang Xun's attempt torestore the Qing monarchy, but he only held it for several days beforeBeijing was retaken byRepublican forces.
Following the collapse of the Qing, the premier of the Republic of China was created as Premier of the Cabinet (內閣總理) in 1912. It was changed to the Secretary of State (國務卿) in 1914 and Premier of State Council (國務總理) in 1916 in theBeiyang Government. In 1928, theKuomintang (KMT) Government established theExecutive Yuan andTan Yankai served as the first president of the Executive Yuan. It was formalized in 1947 after theConstitution of the Republic of China was passed. The post was abolished in Mainland China, but continued on Taiwan since 1949.
The PRC post was initially established by Organic Law of theCentral People's Government, passed by theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 29 September 1949, as the premier of theGovernment Administration Council of the Central People's Government.[3]Zhou Enlai was appointed as premier immediately after theproclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1 October 1949.[citation needed] With the adoption of aconstitution in 1954, the post was renamed into the premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China.[4]
Since the 1980s, there has been a division of responsibilities between the premier and theChinese Communist Party (CCP)general secretary wherein the premier is responsible for the economy and the technical details of implementing government policy while the general secretary gathers the political support necessary for government policy.[5] However, this was seen by observers to be overturned under theleadership of CCP general secretaryXi Jinping, who has centralized power around himself, and has taken responsibility over areas that were traditionally the domain of the premier, including the economy.[5]
The premier was historically chosen within the CCP through deliberations by incumbentPolitburo members and retired CCP Politburo members as part of the process of determining membership in the incoming newCCP Politburo Standing Committee. Under this informal process, the eventual future premier is initially chosen as avice premier before assuming the position of premier during a subsequent round of leadership transitions.[6] This changed under Xi, with his ally and current premierLi Qiang never having served as vice premier.[7]
Officially, the premier is appointed by theNational People's Congress (NPC) upon the nomination of thepresident.[8] The NPC also has the power to remove the premier and other state officers from office. Elections and removals are decided by majority vote.[8] In practice, the premier is chosen within the CCP leadership, including the Politburo Standing Committee.[9]
The length of the premier's term of office is the same as the NPC, which is 5 years, and the premier is restricted to two consecutive terms.[8] Immediately after the election, the president signs the presidential order formalizing the premier's appointment. Since 2018, the premier is required to recite theconstitutional oath of office before assuming office.[9]
The premier is the highest administrative position in thegovernment of China. The premier heads the State Council[10] and is responsible for organizing and administering the Chinese civil bureaucracy. For example, the premier is tasked with planning and implementing national economic and social development and the state budget.[8][11] The premier has always been a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The premier leads theLeading Party Members Group, which responsible for overseeing the implementation of CCP Central Committee policies in the State Council.[12]
The premier's duties includes overseeing the various ministries, departments, commissions and statutory agencies.[7] The premier can also propose the establishment, merger or dissolution of ministries, which would then be decided upon by the NPC or itsStanding Committee.[13] The premier officially nominated the candidates for vice premiers,state councillors, ministerial offices and thesecretary-general of the State Council for appointment by the NPC.[9] The vice premiers assist the premier in their duties. The first-ranked vice premier acts in the premier's capacity in their absence.[14]
The premier chairs theplenary andexecutive meetings of the State Council. The executive meetings include the premier, vice premiers, state councillors and the secretary-general of the State Council,[8] and are held two or three times a month, and can be held in any time if necessary.[15] The State Council has the authority to issue proposals to the NPC and its Standing Committee, which must be approved by the premier. It can also draft or abolish administrative regulations, which are then signed into order and promulgated by the premier.[11][15] The premier delivers agovernment work report at the annual session of the NPC.[16]: 61–62 The premier also signs the order approving the appointments or removals of State Council officials at the deputy-ministerial level, as well as theChief Executive of Hong Kong and theChief Executive of Macau.[11]
The premier does not havecommand authority over thearmed forces, but is generally the head of theNational Defense Mobilization Commission which is a department of the armed forces.[17] The State Council has the authority to impose martial law in subdivisions below theprovincial-level administrative divisions, which the premier then proclaims in an order;[11][18] premierLi Peng once used the authority to impose martial law in parts of Beijing and to order themilitary crackdown of theTiananmen Square protests in 1989.[19]
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