Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Monday, January 07, 2013

China, the multi-party state

The ruling party in China has long bragged about the multi-party system in China. That's why the election of party leaders is always big news.

Non-communist parties elect new leaderships

With the conclusion of the China Association for Promoting Democracy's (CAPD's) national congress… the country's eight non-communist parties have all elected their new party leaderships.

Since Nov. 30, the eight parties successively held the five-yearly national congresses, with the election of a new central committee -- the party leadership -- in each case…

Under China's multi-party cooperation system, non-communist parties participate in state affairs under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). They and the CPC work together and supervise each other, instead of opposing each other.

The eight non-communist parties are: the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the China Democratic League, the China National Democratic Construction Association, the China Association for Promoting Democracy, the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, China Zhi Gong Dang, the Jiu San Society and the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League.

Non-communist parties had a total of more than 800,000 members as of the end of 2011, with more than 37,000 organs at community-based levels, according to official figures.

Founded between the 1920s and the late 1940s, they have a membership mainly consisting of professionals and academics from different sectors, elites among returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, people with links to the former Kuomintang, or Taiwan residents.

Non-communist parties have contributed to the formation of key official documents or policies in the country by offering comments and suggestions.

They are also active in promoting public welfare, helping the needy, alleviate poverty in remote regions and facilitate coordinated development in both urban and rural areas.

Furthermore, a number of non-communist party members hold key positions with government and judicial organs.

Statistics showed that 30 of 31 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have deputy governors with non-communist party backgrounds…