Since the “reform and opening up to outside world” policy was enforced in 1978, nearly 40 years of fast-paced economic growth has made China the world’s second largest economy and the world’s largest exporter. Its economy has been deeply integrated into the global economy and joined into the existing global order, led its economy to one that is closely interdependent with other global powerhouses, especially the United States. As China’s economic and strategic clout has grown over the last four decades, the big powers’ relationship with China has expanded to encompass a broad range of global, regional, and bilateral issues. The rapid rise of China has caused a series of Western concerns: Will China's rapid rise change the existing global order? Will the rising China assume the leadership of globalization? China files WTO complaint against U.S, EU over its Non-Market Economy Status, challenge to liberal global economic order? Chinese geopolitics and Donald Trump took office could trigger a military conflict? How will China deal with the Sino-US trade conflicts? What role will China play in existing global order?
China’s Governance System: What the World Needs to Know About the Oriental Economic Superpower (2018 edition) answered these questions that Western countries’ think tanks, observers and analysts, policymakers are paying close attention.
The national culture has many aspects of connotation, but any kind of cultural core displays a unique way of thinking. The national culture of a country as the way of thinking will decide the attitude, behavior, and approach of the people and even the top leadership of this country towards the events occurring in real world. China has, over five thousand years of civilized history, nurtured a unique nationalistic culture, enjoying over two thousand years of a feudal autocratic governance system. Its distinctive national culture fueled by Confucianism philosophy has evolved for thousands of years, still rooted in the minds and hearts of the Chinese people today. It is precisely this distinctive national culture of authoritarian governance in China’s feudal society that has led to smooth running of the government for over two thousand years. Nowadays, the Chinese people have inherited reasonable quintessence of the Chinese national culture that incorporates Confucianism philosophy at its core while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chose an authoritarian governance system of the one-party ruling since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
In the circumstance of authoritarian governance system of the CCP’s one-party ruling, China has not only embraced its distinctive national culture, but has also internalized this distinctive governance system, possessed the distinctive decision and policy-making process and the distinctive legislative process. This may even create an absolutely different interpretation or understanding for the same event than that of the Westerners. All these are hard for Westerners to understand. Just for this reason, along with a multidisciplinary perspective, from sociology, social psychology, behavioral psychology, cultural psychology, historiography, economics to politics, this book introduces and expounds the Chinese national culture and its evolution with change of the times, the current Chinese governance system and its organizational structure, the Chinese decision and policy-making process and legislative process, and comments the latest and most sensitive issues and flash points that the Western think tanks, observers, analysts, and elites are paying close attention, finally, truthfully describes the challenges for governance system of the CCP. The aim of this book is to help not only the Western countries’ think tanks, observers, analysts, and elites concerned about China, but also the people those who are interested in China to really understand China. Therefore, this book draws only an honest and straightforward portrait, almost making no subjective inference. Analysis is based on officially published documents and data, but its contents are the latest and the most comprehensively systematic, constituting its own distinctive and complete system.
The book is organized as follows. Chapter 1 introduces the origin and the quintessence of the Chinese national culture with Confucianism philosophy as core, the evolution of Confucianism philosophy along with the change of time, and the current Chinese national culture. Chapter 2 provides the honest and straightforward portraits of the organizational structure of CCP’s governance system, including the CCP itself, the CCP-led China’s National People’s Congress, the CCP-led central government—State Council, the CCP directly commanded CCP Central Military Commission and its armed forces, the CCP-led Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, as well as the distinctive features of CCP’s governance system. Chapter 3 depicts the CCP’s decision and policy-making process and gives a case of the CCP’s decision and policy-making process. Chapter 4 describes the legislative procedures of China’s National People’s Congress and the State Council legislative procedures for administrative regulations under the leadership of the CCP. Chapter 5, titled “How to look at China,” analyzes and discusses the latest and most sensitive issues and flash points that the Western think tanks, observers, analysts, and elites are paying close attention. Chapter 6 truthfully describes the challenges for governance system of the CCP, which is based on the facts of the situation and the Chinese people’s will and aspirations.
Assuredly, the book is immersed in the way of thinking of the CCP governing nation as well as the Chinese national culture to reveal the true essence of the CCP, and how the Chinese people deal with events occurring in real world, so as to let the Western countries’ think tanks, observers, analysts, elites and the people those who are interested in China really understand China.
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Contents I-III
List of Figures IV
List of Tables V
Preface.1
Chapter 1 Chinese National Culture.6
1.1. Introduction.6
1.2.Confucianism Philosophy.8
1.2.1. Rite.8
1.2.2.Benevolence.11
1.2.3.Righteousness.13
1.2.4. Knowledge.15
1.2.5.Trustworthiness.16
1.3. Evolution of Confucianism Philosophy.19
1.3.1.Evolution of Chinese National Culture in Mao Zedong Era.29
1.3.2.Evolution of Chinese National Culture in Deng Xiaoping Era.35
1.3.3.Evolution of Chinese National Culture in Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao Era.79
1.4. Current China’s National Culture.101
End Notes.121
Chapter 2 Organizational Structure of Governance System.127
2.1. Introduction.127
2.2. Overview of China’s Top Organizational Structure of Governance System.132
2.3. China’s Communist Party (CCP).133
2.3.1. Top Organizational Structure of China’s Communist Party (CCP).133
2.3.2. Stringent Constitution and Regulation of China’s Communist Party (CCP).140
2.3.3. Leadership Bodies of China’s Communist Party (CCP).146
2.3.4. Master Special Departments under the CCP Central Committee.190
2.4. China’s National People’s Congress (NPC).212
2.5. China’s State Council.221
2.6. Central Military Commission and Armed forces of China’s Communist Party (CCP).262
2.7. Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).275
2.8. The Distinctive Features of Governance System of China’s Communist Party (CCP).282
2.8.1. Centralized Governance System by One-Party Dictatorship within a Multi - Hierarchical Society.282
2.8.2. Democratic Centralism and Collective Leadership.284
2.8.3. Social and Political Stability.285
2.8.4. Planning and Top-level Design.287
2.8.5. Age and Term Limits for Official Positions.288
End Notes.290
Chapter 3 Decision and Policy- Making Process.293
3.1. Unique Connotation of Decisions and Policies Making.293
3.2. Decisions and Policies-Making Process.301
3.2.1. CCP Apparatus’ Decisions and Policies-Making Process.302
3.2.2. Decisions and Policies-Making by the Paramount Leader.304
3.2.3 Decisions and policies-Making by the Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC).304
3.2.4 Decisions and Policies-Making by the Political Bureau (PB).306
3.2.5. Categorical Decisions and policies-making Process.306
3.2.6 A Case: Decisions and Policies-Making Process for “Decision of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform”.309
End Notes.313
Chapter 4 Legislative Process.314
4.1. Legislative Procedures for National Laws.314
4.1.1. Legislative Procedures for the National People’s Congress (NPC).316
4.1.2. Legislative Procedures for the Standing Committee of NPC.319
4.2. Legislative Procedures for Administrative Regulations.324
End Notes.341
Chapter 5 How to look at China.342
5.1. Will the Rising China Assumes the Leadership of Globalization?.343
5.2. China Files WTO Complaint Against US, EU over Its Non-Market Economy Status, Challenge to Liberal Global Economic Order?.350
5.3. Chinese Geopolitics and Donald Trump Took Office Could Trigger a Military Conflict?.363
5.4. China’s Principled and Potent Foreign Policies Adapting Changing International Situation.388
5.4.1. Peaceful Development.391
5.4.2. New Model of Major-Country Relations.392
5.4.3. Neighborhood Diplomacy.395
5.4.4. Cooperation with Developing Countries.397
5.4.5. Multilateral Relations.398
5.4.6. Strategy of “One Belt, One Road”.399
5. 5. China’s Assertions and Practices for Cyberspace.405
5.5.1. China’s Assertions for Cyberspace.407
5.5.2. China’s Practices for Cyberspace.412
5.5.3. Some Revelations.414
5.6. China’s Transformation of Economic Development Pattern.416
5.7. U.S.–China Trade Conflict, How Does China Deal with It?.464
5.8. What Role Will China Play and Its Relationship with World Order?.496
5.8.1. Oriental Middle Kingdom—ancient China.498
5.8.2. China’s Rise and Its Relationship with Existing International Order.500
5.8.3. Geo-culture and Chinese national culture.514
5.8.4. What Role Will China Play?.522
End Notes.526
Chapter 6 The Challenges for Governance System of China’s Communist Party (CCP).537
6.1. Bureaucracy.540
6.2. Relationship between Central Government and Local Governments.542
6.3. Weak Rule of Law and Missing Values.546
6.4. Corruption.550
6.5. People’s Willingness and Social Stability.553
6.6. Conclusion.554
End Notes.558
List of Tables
Chapter 1
Table 1.3. A Brief Chinese Chronology.19
Table 1.3.2.1. Reform Programs of SOEs.42
Table 1.3.2.2. Ownership Structure of Industrial Production.43
Table 1.3.2.3. Foreign Direct Investment and Other Foreign Investment.48
Table 1. 3.2.4. Total Chinese Imports and Exports.53
Table 1.3.3.1, Government Expenditure for Education, Medical Care, Social
Security and Employment.99
Table 1.4.1. A List of Headlines of CCP’s Major Guiding Opinions, Programs
and Measures for Reform.110
Chapter 2
Table 2.3. 1. The Departments under the CCP Central Committee.135
Table 2.3.3.1. The 19th Central Committee’s Politburo Standing
Committee..151
Table 2.3.3.2. Leading Group for Continuing the Reform Comprehensively
(Leading Group for Overall Reform).156
Table 2.3.3.3. Standing Committee and Committee of the National Security
Commission of the CCP.161
Table 2.3.3.4. Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs of the
CCP.164
Table 2.3.3.5. Foreign Affairs Leading Group of the CCP.167
Table 2.3.3.6. Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs of the CCP.169
Table 2.4.1. Chairmen's Council of 13th National People's Congress (NPC).218
Table 2.5.1. The Incumbent Top-Ranking Members of the State Council.222
Table 2.5.2. The Incumbent Ministers and Directors of Ministries and
Commissions.223
Table 2.5.3. Organizational Structure of the China’s State Council.240
Table 2.5.4. Organizational Structure of Chinese Ministry of Commerce.260
Table 2.6.1. The Members of Central Military Commission (CMC).263
Table 2.7.1. Chinese Minor Political Parties.280
Chapter 5
Table 5.6.1. China’s Area of Commercial Housing for Sale.450
Table 5.6.2. Rank of Housing Price-to-Income Ratio of 40 Large and Medium
Cities Nationwide (July 2017).454
