Official name

People's Republic of China

Form of government

One-party rule by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

The executive

The state council, approved by the legislature; state council members, including the premier, may serve no more than two consecutive five-year terms

Head of state

A president and a vice-president are approved by the legislature for a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms

National legislature

Unicameral National People's Congress (NPC): 2,989 delegates are selected by provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions and the armed forces. The NPC approves the president and members of the state council, as well as the membership of the standing committee of the NPC, which meets when the NPC is not in session. All arms of the legislature and the executive sit for five-year terms

Regional assemblies and administrations

There are 22 provinces, four municipalities directly under central government control and five autonomous regions. These elect local people's congresses, and are administered by people's governments

National elections

The current government line-up was approved at the NPC meeting in March 2008. A new party leadership will be announced at the 18th national congress of the CCP in late 2012. The new government line-up will be announced in March 2013 at the NPC, when Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang are expected to take over from Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao as president and premier respectively

National government

The politburo (political bureau) of the CCP sets policy and controls all administrative, legal and executive appointments; the nine-member politburo standing committee is the focus of power

Main political organisation

The CCP, of which Hu Jintao is the general secretary

Politburo standing committee members

Hu Jintao

Wu Bangguo

Wen Jiabao

Jia Qinglin

Li Changchun

Xi Jinping

Li Keqiang

He Guoqiang

Zhou Yongkang

Heads of selected state ministries and commissions

President: Hu Jintao

Vice-president: Xi Jinping

Premier: Wen Jiabao

Vice-premiers:

;Li Keqiang

;Hui Liangyu

;Zhang Dejiang

;Wang Qishan

Commerce: Chen Deming

Finance: Xie Xuren

Foreign affairs: Yang Jiechi

National Development & Reform Commission: Zhang Ping

Central bank governor

Zhou Xiaochuan