A state councillor () is a high-ranking position within the State Council, the executive organ of the Chinese government (comparable to a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

). It ranks immediately below the Vice-Premiers and above the ministers of various departments. Similar to

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

, the position carries duties unspecified at the time of appointment, although state councillor may also be appointed to head a department. The position was created during the May 1982 restructuring of the State Council, when eleven state councillors were appointed, ten of whom were vice premiers until then.

Role

In theory, state councillors are to assist the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

and Vice-Premiers to oversee various government portfolios. They can also represent the State Council (and in turn,

Government of China The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mil ...

) on foreign visits. State councillors are part of a Standing Meeting of the State Council, alongside the Premier, Vice-Premiers, and the Secretary General of the State Council. The organ holds weekly meetings. In practice, a state councillor's portfolios can be very wide-ranging. State councillors often accompany China's higher dignitaries on trips abroad - as was the case with State Councillor

Tang Jiaxuan Tang Jiaxuan () (born January 17, 1938) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who was foreign minister of the People's Republic of China from 1998–2003. After various diplomatic postings in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and form ...

from 2003–2008, and Dai Bingguo from 2008–2013. Dai also became China's representative at the 2009 G8 summit in Italy when President

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...

decided to cut short his attendance to return to China in order to deal with the

July 2009 Ürümqi riots The July 2009 Ürümqi riots were a series of violent riots over several days that broke out on 5 July 2009 in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), in northwestern China. The first day's rioting, which ...

List of state councillors

; 5th State Council (1982–1983) The position was created during the May 1982 restructuring of the State Council. Eleven state councillors were appointed, ten of whom were vice premiers until then, the only exception being Zhang Jingfu. # Yu Qiuli # Geng Biao #

Fang Yi Fang Yi (; 26 February 1916 – 17 October 1997) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, diplomat, and high-ranking politician. As a military leader, he participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After the founding of ...

# Gu Mu # Kang Shi'en # Chen Muhua #

Bo Yibo Bo Yibo (; 17 February 1908 – 15 January 2007) was a Chinese politician. He was one of the most senior political figures in China during the 1980s and 1990s. After joining the Chinese Communist Party when he was 17, he worked as a Communist ...

Ji Pengfei Ji Pengfei (simplified Chinese: 姬鹏飞; traditional Chinese: 姬鵬飛; pinyin: ''Jī Péngfēi''; February 2, 1910 – February 10, 2000) was a Chinese politician. Biography Ji Pengfei was born in Linyi County, Shanxi, Linyi, Yuncheng, Shanx ...

# Huang Hua # Zhang Jingfu #

Zhang Aiping Zhang Aiping (; born January 9, 1910 in Da County, Sichuan; died July 5, 2003 in Beijing) was a Chinese military leader. Biography Zhang joined the Communist Party of China in 1928 after taking part in a communist-led rural uprising. He partic ...

; 6th State Council (1983–1988) #

# Gu Mu # Kang Shi'en # Chen Muhua #

# Zhang Jingfu #

Wu Xueqian Wu Xueqian (December 19, 1921 – April 4, 2008) was a Chinese politician and diplomat who served as the Foreign Minister and Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China. Biography Wu was born in Shanghai in 1921. He joined the Communist Pa ...

# Wang Bingqian # Song Ping # Song Jian ; 7th State Council (1988–1993) #

Li Tieying Li Tieying (; born 1936) is a retired politician of the People's Republic of China. He held many positions since 1955, including Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and President of the Chinese Academy of S ...

# Qin Jiwei # Wang Bingqian # Song Jian # Wang Fang #

Zou Jiahua Zou Jiahua (born October 1926) is a retired high-ranking politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as China's Vice Premier from 1991 to 1998, Vice-Chairman of the 9th National People's Congress from 1998 to 2003, and was a membe ...

# Li Guixian # Chen Xitong #

Chen Junsheng Chen Junsheng (; June 1927 – 8 August 2002) was a Chinese politician. As a provincial official in Heilongjiang in the early 1980s, he distinguished himself as an advocate of the household responsibility system, resulting in the implementation o ...

# Qian Qichen ; 8th State Council (1993–1998) #

# Chi Haotian # Song Jian # Li Guixian #

# Ismail Amat # Peng Peiyun #

Luo Gan Luo Gan (; born July 18, 1935) is a retired Chinese politician. Between 2002 and 2007, Luo was one of China's top leaders, serving as a member of the nine-man Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and as the Secretary of ...

- Secretary-General of the State Council ; 9th State Council (1998–2003) # Chi Haotian #

# Ismail Amat # Wu Yi # Wang Zhongyu - Secretary-General of the State Council ; 10th State Council (2003–2008) ; 11th State Council (2008–2013) ; 12th State Council (2013–2018) NPC endorses new cabinet lineup
/ref> ; 13th State Council (2018–2023)

References

External links

{{People's Republic of China politics