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 |
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Style | Mr. Premier (总理) |
Type | Head of the State Council |
Status | Head of Government |
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 | ||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 中華人民共和國國務院總理 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Chinese People Republic State Affairs Court General Manager | ||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 国务院总理 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 國務院總理 | ||||||
Literal meaning | State Affairs Court General Manager | ||||||
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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of China |
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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.
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Powers and duties[edit]
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[edit]
-
1st — Zhou Enlai
(served: 1949–1976) -
2nd — Hua Guofeng
(served: 1976–1980) -
3rd — Zhao Ziyang
(served: 1980–1988) -
4th — Li Peng
(served: 1988–1998) -
5th — Zhu Rongji
(served: 1998–2003) -
6th — Wen Jiabao
(served: 2003–2013) -
7th — Li Keqiang
(served: 2013–present)
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170410160726im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/5eb0311a2294a12e45b3649e0236a54b.png)
Living former premiers[edit]
As of April 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[edit]
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[edit]
- ^ a b http://english.people.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html, Section 3, Article 88 and Article 89.
External links[edit]
See also[edit]
- List of premiers of China
- List of premiers of the People's Republic of China
- List of leaders of the People's Republic of China
- Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
- President of the People's Republic of China
- Prime Minister of China (disambiguation)
- List of Chinese leaders
- Paramount Leader
- Political position ranking of PRC