Publication

This report is designed to provide Congress with a perspective on the contemporary political system of China, the only Communist Party-led authoritarian state in the G-20 grouping of major economies. China’s Communist Party dominates state and society in China, is committed to maintaining a permanent monopoly on power, and is intolerant of those who question its right to rule. The report opens with a brief overview of China’s leading political institutions. Following the overview, the report introduces a number of distinct features of China’s formal political culture and discusses some of their implications for U.S.-China relations.The second half of the report is devoted to detailed discussion of China’s formal political structures.