Under control

Xi finally takes power in China into his own hands

Xi continues to expand his influence - he is already the most powerful Chinese head of state since Mao Tse-tung.

(Bild: APA/AFP/GREG BAKER)

All power to the president: Having already cemented his power last year, Xi Jinping is now going one step further. In future, he will finally have control of the government in the one-party dictatorship.

At the end of this year's session of the National People's Congress on Monday, the people's representatives granted the all-dominant party of head of state and party leader Xi Jinping more executive control over the cabinet, the State Council. The delegates in Beijing voted in favor of a corresponding amendment to the law by 2883 votes to eight with nine abstentions.

The executive powers of the State Council, which is headed by the Prime Minister and officially oversees the 21 ministries and regional governments, have already been gradually eroded in recent years. This year, the Prime Minister's press conference at the end of the People's Congress was also canceled for the first time in three decades.

The number of members of parliament who opposed Xi Jinping is negligible.

(Bild: AP/Andy Wong)

Most powerful head of state since Mao Tse-tung
It was only last year that the People's Congress cemented Xi's power and confirmed him for an unprecedented third term as president. Just a few months earlier, he had also been re-elected for a further five years as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the ruling Communists.

This made Xi the most powerful head of state in China since Mao Tse-tung, who co-founded the Communist Party and proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949. At the same time, Xi promoted loyal followers to top positions, such as the current Prime Minister Li Qiang, and replaced more reform-oriented officials.

Government only has to implement directives
The law on the organization of the State Council has now been amended for the first time since 1982. According to legal experts, this continues the shift of more and more power from the state into the hands of the party, so that the government only has to faithfully implement the party's directives. The amendment emphasizes that the State Council must "resolutely uphold the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership" and follow the ideology shaped by Xi.

"This is a major shift in the reorganization of executive power in China," said Chinese University of Hong Kong law professor Ryan Mitchell. "While it is always clear that the party leader is the most influential figure in the overall hierarchy, the precise division of labor in policy making and especially in overseeing policy implementation can be opaque."

"Open control over organs of state"
Thomas Kellogg of Georgetown University in Washington said: "It's another sign that the party wants to both expand its overt control over the organs of state and be seen as fully accountable." The abolition of the Prime Minister's final press conference, which has traditionally been one of the most important dates in the Chinese political calendar, is "another example of the institutions of governance falling by the wayside in favor of the Party."

Leaving nothing to chance
Since taking office in 2012, Xi has set up several new central party committees that oversee several ministries and report directly to him. Some of them intervene in economic and financial policy, which is actually the responsibility of the Prime Minister.

The Council of State no longer holds weekly meetings, but only meets two to three times a month. "We are still in the midst of years of reorganizing the structure of the party and state, and there are likely to be more such changes to come," said expert Kellogg.