A state councillor () is a high-ranking position within the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

, the executive organ of the

Chinese government 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, m ...

(comparable to a cabinet). It ranks immediately below the Vice-Premiers and above the ministers of various departments. Similar to minister without portfolio, 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 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, m ...

) 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 Secretary-General of the State Council () is an executive position within the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It ranks below the Premier and above the Ministers of various ministries and departments. The equivalent position in ...

. 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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world' ...

from 2003–2008, and

Dai Bingguo Dai Bingguo (; born March 31, 1941) is a Chinese politician and professional diplomat. Since 2008, Dai has emerged as one of the foremost and highest-ranking figures of Chinese foreign policy in the Hu Jintao administration. A graduate of Sic ...

from 2008–2013. Dai also became China's representative at the 2009 G8 summit in Italy when President Hu Jintao 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 Zhang Jingfu or Zhang Jinfu (; 6 June 1914 – 31 July 2015) was a politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as Governor and Communist Party Secretary of Anhui province, Minister of Finance, and State Councilor of the 5th and 6th St ...

. #

Yu Qiuli Yu Qiuli (; 15 November 1914 – 3 February 1999) was a Chinese Communist army officer and politician, general of the People's Liberation Army. A veteran of the Long March, he held top military and government positions under both Mao Zedong and ...

Geng Biao Geng Biao (; 26 August 1909 – 23 June 2000) was a senior official in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and a leader in Chinese politics, foreign relations and military. Early life Geng was born in Liling, Hunan Province of China. In 1922 ...

# Fang Yi #

Gu Mu Gu Mu (; September 1914 – November 6, 2009) was a Chinese revolutionary figure and politician, who served as the Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China between 1975 and 1982. As one of Deng Xiaoping's main aides in charge of economic m ...

# Kang Shi'en #

Chen Muhua Chen Muhua (; 1921 – 12 May 2011) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who served as Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, Vice Premier, State Councilor, Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, Minister of Fo ...

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, Yuncheng, Shanxi in 1910. He joined ...

Huang Hua Huang Hua (; ; January 25, 1913 – November 24, 2010) was a senior Communist Chinese revolutionary, politician, and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister of China from 1976 to 1982, and concurrently as Vice Premier from 1980 to 1982. He was i ...

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) # Fang Yi #

# Kang Shi'en #

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 Wang Bingqian (; born June 1925) is a politician of the People's Republic of China and a former Minister of Finance of China. Born in Li County, Hebei, Wang joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in January 1940. Wang was a member of the 13t ...

Song Ping Song Ping (; born 30 April 1917) is a Chinese Communist revolutionary and a retired high-ranking politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which effectively rules China, and is considered th ...

Song Jian Song Jian (; born 29 December 1931) is a Chinese aerospace engineer, demographer, and politician. He was deputy chief designer of China's submarine-launched ballistic missile (JL-1) and one of the country's leading scientists in the post-Cultura ...

; 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 Soc ...

Qin Jiwei Qin Jiwei (; 16 November 1914 – 2 February 1997) was a general of the People's Republic of China, Minister of National Defense and a member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo. Qin Jiwei was born to a poor peasant family in Huang'an (now ...

# 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 member ...

# Li Guixian #

Chen Xitong Chen Xitong (; June 10, 1930 – June 2, 2013) was a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the Mayor of Beijing until he was removed from office on charges of corruption in 1995. Early life Chen was born on June 10, 1930, ...

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 Qian Qichen (; 5 January 1928 – 9 May 2017) was a Chinese diplomat and politician. He served as Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member from 1992 to 2002, China's Foreign Minister from April 1988 to March 1998, and as Vice Premier f ...

; 8th State Council (1993–1998) #

Chi Haotian Chi Haotian (; born 9 July 1929), also spelled as Chih Hao-tien, is a retired general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He served as Minister of National Defence from 1993 to 2003. Biography Chi was born 9 July 1929 in Zhaoyuan, Sha ...

# Li Guixian #

Ismail Amat Ismail Amat ( ug, ئىسمائىل ئەھمەد, translit=Isma'il Ehmet; zh , s = 司马义·艾买提 , p = Sīmǎyì Àimǎití ; September 1935 – 16 October 2018) was a Chinese politician of Uyghur ethnicity who served as Chairman (Governor ...

# 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 The Secretary-General of the State Council () is an executive position within the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It ranks below the Premier and above the Ministers of various ministries and departments. The equivalent position in ...

; 9th State Council (1998–2003) #

# 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