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The article is an edited excerpt from China’s Collective Leadership System， a new book authored by Hu Angang， Director of Tsinghua University’s Center for China Studies. Hu says that the collective leadership system， created by China， is a unique， politically superior， efficient and also democratic decisionmaking system. The Renmin University of China Press published the book in July. Springer will be publishing the English translation.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949， the Communist Party of China （CPC）， the world’s largest ruling party， created a unique collective leadership system with Chinese characteristics. The system has been formulated， developed and improved through a long process of innovation， learning as well as trials and errors.
The system means that the collective leading body， the multi-member Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee， exercises state powers and collectively oversees Party and government affairs.
Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee also respectively represent different leading organs of the Party and the state. They have clear division of work while they also coordinate with each other.
The essential feature of the system is collectiveness. Decisions are made based on collective rather than individual wisdom.
The CPC and China’s government departments practice democratic centralism， which is the fundamental characteristic of the collective leadership system. It fits China’s basic national conditions and cultural background very well. Of course， there should be continuous improvement.
Coordination
Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee respectively represent different organizations and are in charge of different work areas， while they come together to make any significant decisions.
For instance， the standing committees from the Political Bureau at the 16th（2002-07） and 17th （2007-12） CPC Central Committee each had nine members. The general secretary of the CPC Central Committee also concurrently served as the head of state. Other members included heads of the government （State Council）， national legislation （National People’s Congress）， national advisory body （National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference）， as well as people in charge of the Party’s organization， publicity and culture， disciplinary inspection， as well as political and legal affairs. They made significant decisions relating to such important issues as dealing with the international financial crisis and serious natural disasters， as well as the formulation of the 12th Five-Year Program for China’s social and economic development between 2011 and 2015， through sharing information， exchanging ideas and coordinating opinions. Information asymmetry was reduced to guarantee correct and highly consistent decisions.
Communication， consultation and coordination are mainly carried out through the following channels： communication and consultation between individual members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee； coordination between organizations represented by these members； information， knowledge and suggestions provided by these organizations’think tanks； and inter-organization as well as intra-organization information sharing.
These organizations also supervise each other. For instance， according to relevant provisions of the Constitution， the State Council is the supreme administrative organ of state power， and it should report to the National People’s Congress and accept its supervision.
power transition
The resolution adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee in September 2009 said that leadership teams of Party organizations should be optimized so that members can complement each other in terms of age， experience， expertise and personality， which will increase the team’s overall synergy and its ability to function efficiently.
Provincial Party chiefs now account for a large part of the candidate pool for central leadership positions.
China is the most populous country in the world. As of the end of 2012， 11 countries had a population exceeding 100 million. If we classify a country with a population of more than 60 million as a big country， then China has at least eight provinces that could count as such in their own right.
The area， population and economic scale of some Chinese provinces are equivalent to those of many countries. Governing such a province is similar to governing a country.
In this test of governance， provincial Party chiefs can accumulate the necessary information， knowledge， experience and ability to oversee operations at a national level.
China has five levels of government， whereas the United States has three. In fact， it usually takes more effort， time and experience to become a top provincial leader in China than to become the president of some countries. A person who has not been tested and had their skills tempered enough through serving at a provincial-level leadership position will have great difficulty ruling the most populous country in the world effectively. Before taking charge， most members of the central leadership should have served as primary assistants to previous standing committees of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee， namely through being members or alternate members of the Political Bureau， or members or alternate members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. The decision to re-establish the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee as the working body of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and its Standing Committee was made during the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in February 1980. At that time， Deng Xiaoping and other senior leaders expected that the move would facilitate a collective power transition. The CPC Constitution states that members of the Secretariat are nominated by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and are subject to the endorsement of the Central Committee in plenary session.
Under normal conditions， one can only be a member of the central leadership after holding one or more of the aforementioned positions.
These experiences will prepare would-be Party leaders politically， and reduce information asymmetry， imperfection and uncertainty by facilitating information sharing in the power transition process.
The last step of the power transition process is completed at the Party’s national congress. For example， Hu Jintao， General Secretary of the 16th and 17th CPC Central Committees， led a team to draft the report to the 16th CPC National Congress in November 2002 under the leadership of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 15th CPC Central Committee. Approved at the 16th CPC National Congress， the report outlined the new central leadership’s general guidelines for managing the Party and ruling the country， ensuring policy continuity while allowing for innovation.
Decision making
At the central government level， the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee leads the decision-making process， with the participation of leaders of the State Council， the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Top leaders also seek suggestions from the general public and a number of other sources before making significant decisions. Some of these sources include domestic and foreign think tanks， as well as leaders of local， mainly provincial， Party committees， governments， people’s congresses and committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The central collective decision-making system entered into a mature stage on December 2， 2002， when the Political Bureau of the 16th CPC Central Committee passed its working rules.
In February 2004， the CPC Central Committee adopted the regulations on intra-Party supervision， which stipulate that the Political Bureau should report to the plenary session of the CPC Central Committee.
The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee meets on a regular basis， with each member expressing their own opinions on specific issues， as well as the opin- ions on behalf of the organizations they oversee.
Once a collective decision is made at the meeting， members of the Standing Committee convey the decision to organizations they oversee so that those institutions can act accordingly.
The CPC Central Committee has set rules and procedures on the making of significant decisions and established an accountability system for policy mistakes.
In September 2004， the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee passed a decision on strengthening the Party’s ruling capacity， which spells out important policymaking rules and procedures.
Non-CPC political parties can participate in the administration and discussion of state affairs. The CPC Central Committee holds political consultations with these parties on important matters， such as recommended candidates for state leaders， amendments to the Constitution and important laws and formulation of programs for the country’s middle- and long-term development.
Members of the central leadership also actively solicit opinions from experts and think tanks. After the implementation of the reform and openingup policy in the late 1970s， experts and think tanks have played an increasingly important role in policy advising.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949， the Communist Party of China （CPC）， the world’s largest ruling party， created a unique collective leadership system with Chinese characteristics. The system has been formulated， developed and improved through a long process of innovation， learning as well as trials and errors.
The system means that the collective leading body， the multi-member Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee， exercises state powers and collectively oversees Party and government affairs.
Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee also respectively represent different leading organs of the Party and the state. They have clear division of work while they also coordinate with each other.
The essential feature of the system is collectiveness. Decisions are made based on collective rather than individual wisdom.
The CPC and China’s government departments practice democratic centralism， which is the fundamental characteristic of the collective leadership system. It fits China’s basic national conditions and cultural background very well. Of course， there should be continuous improvement.
Coordination
Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee respectively represent different organizations and are in charge of different work areas， while they come together to make any significant decisions.
For instance， the standing committees from the Political Bureau at the 16th（2002-07） and 17th （2007-12） CPC Central Committee each had nine members. The general secretary of the CPC Central Committee also concurrently served as the head of state. Other members included heads of the government （State Council）， national legislation （National People’s Congress）， national advisory body （National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference）， as well as people in charge of the Party’s organization， publicity and culture， disciplinary inspection， as well as political and legal affairs. They made significant decisions relating to such important issues as dealing with the international financial crisis and serious natural disasters， as well as the formulation of the 12th Five-Year Program for China’s social and economic development between 2011 and 2015， through sharing information， exchanging ideas and coordinating opinions. Information asymmetry was reduced to guarantee correct and highly consistent decisions.
Communication， consultation and coordination are mainly carried out through the following channels： communication and consultation between individual members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee； coordination between organizations represented by these members； information， knowledge and suggestions provided by these organizations’think tanks； and inter-organization as well as intra-organization information sharing.
These organizations also supervise each other. For instance， according to relevant provisions of the Constitution， the State Council is the supreme administrative organ of state power， and it should report to the National People’s Congress and accept its supervision.
power transition
The resolution adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee in September 2009 said that leadership teams of Party organizations should be optimized so that members can complement each other in terms of age， experience， expertise and personality， which will increase the team’s overall synergy and its ability to function efficiently.
Provincial Party chiefs now account for a large part of the candidate pool for central leadership positions.
China is the most populous country in the world. As of the end of 2012， 11 countries had a population exceeding 100 million. If we classify a country with a population of more than 60 million as a big country， then China has at least eight provinces that could count as such in their own right.
The area， population and economic scale of some Chinese provinces are equivalent to those of many countries. Governing such a province is similar to governing a country.
In this test of governance， provincial Party chiefs can accumulate the necessary information， knowledge， experience and ability to oversee operations at a national level.
China has five levels of government， whereas the United States has three. In fact， it usually takes more effort， time and experience to become a top provincial leader in China than to become the president of some countries. A person who has not been tested and had their skills tempered enough through serving at a provincial-level leadership position will have great difficulty ruling the most populous country in the world effectively. Before taking charge， most members of the central leadership should have served as primary assistants to previous standing committees of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee， namely through being members or alternate members of the Political Bureau， or members or alternate members of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee. The decision to re-establish the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee as the working body of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and its Standing Committee was made during the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in February 1980. At that time， Deng Xiaoping and other senior leaders expected that the move would facilitate a collective power transition. The CPC Constitution states that members of the Secretariat are nominated by the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and are subject to the endorsement of the Central Committee in plenary session.
Under normal conditions， one can only be a member of the central leadership after holding one or more of the aforementioned positions.
These experiences will prepare would-be Party leaders politically， and reduce information asymmetry， imperfection and uncertainty by facilitating information sharing in the power transition process.
The last step of the power transition process is completed at the Party’s national congress. For example， Hu Jintao， General Secretary of the 16th and 17th CPC Central Committees， led a team to draft the report to the 16th CPC National Congress in November 2002 under the leadership of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 15th CPC Central Committee. Approved at the 16th CPC National Congress， the report outlined the new central leadership’s general guidelines for managing the Party and ruling the country， ensuring policy continuity while allowing for innovation.
Decision making
At the central government level， the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee leads the decision-making process， with the participation of leaders of the State Council， the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Top leaders also seek suggestions from the general public and a number of other sources before making significant decisions. Some of these sources include domestic and foreign think tanks， as well as leaders of local， mainly provincial， Party committees， governments， people’s congresses and committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The central collective decision-making system entered into a mature stage on December 2， 2002， when the Political Bureau of the 16th CPC Central Committee passed its working rules.
In February 2004， the CPC Central Committee adopted the regulations on intra-Party supervision， which stipulate that the Political Bureau should report to the plenary session of the CPC Central Committee.
The Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee meets on a regular basis， with each member expressing their own opinions on specific issues， as well as the opin- ions on behalf of the organizations they oversee.
Once a collective decision is made at the meeting， members of the Standing Committee convey the decision to organizations they oversee so that those institutions can act accordingly.
The CPC Central Committee has set rules and procedures on the making of significant decisions and established an accountability system for policy mistakes.
In September 2004， the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee passed a decision on strengthening the Party’s ruling capacity， which spells out important policymaking rules and procedures.
Non-CPC political parties can participate in the administration and discussion of state affairs. The CPC Central Committee holds political consultations with these parties on important matters， such as recommended candidates for state leaders， amendments to the Constitution and important laws and formulation of programs for the country’s middle- and long-term development.
Members of the central leadership also actively solicit opinions from experts and think tanks. After the implementation of the reform and openingup policy in the late 1970s， experts and think tanks have played an increasingly important role in policy advising.