Wen Jiabao delivers government work report

A government work report ( zh, s=政府工作报告, hp=Zhèngfǔ gōngzuò bàogào) is a type of government document in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(PRC). People's governments at all levels issue this report to the presidium of the local people's congress, deputies to the people's congresses and members of the local committees of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

attending the meeting at the local people's congress held annually. At the national level, 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 govern ...

delivers the government work report to the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

on behalf of the

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

History

In September 1954, Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

delivered the first government work report to the first session of the

1st National People's Congress The 1st National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1954 to 1959. It held four sessions in this period. There were 1,226 deputies to the Congress. These were the first legislative elections to take place after the founding of the People ...

. Starting from the fourth session of the

5th National People's Congress The 5th National People's Congress (NPC) was in session from 1978 to 1983. It succeeded the 4th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions in this period. Seat distribution The first session *Chairman and Vice Chairman: ''Po ...

in 1981, the premier started delivering the work report on behalf of the government. In 1978, with the beginning of

reform and opening up Reform and opening-up ( zh, s=改革开放, p=Gǎigé kāifàng), also known as the Chinese economic reform or Chinese economic miracle, refers to a variety of economic reforms termed socialism with Chinese characteristics and socialist market ...

, the government work report was translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

for the first time. Since then, the report has also been translated to

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and other languages.

Description

According to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, governments at all levels must report their work to the people's congresses at the same level.

Premier's government work report

The premier delivers a government work report at the annual session of the NPC during the

Two Sessions The Two Sessions () is the collective term for the annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress and of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which are typically both held every March a ...

. The report gives a comprehensive view of China's economic and social development in the previous year and lays out general guidelines for government policies for the current year. It is drafted under the leadership of the premier and mainly by the personnel within the State Council Research Office. Its preparation takes three stages: drafting and preparation, forming a discussion draft, soliciting opinions, revision and improvement, submission to the conference, and formal review The drafting of the government work report and soliciting opinions and making revisions generally takes two to three months before its submission to the NPC.{{Cite web , date=5 March 2023 , title=揭秘政府工作报告出炉流程 , trans-title=Uncovering the process of releasing the government work report , url=http://www.scio.gov.cn/xwfb/gwyxwbgsxwfbh/wqfbh_2284/2015n_9477/2015n03y05r/zxbd_9563/202207/t20220715_185444.html , access-date=20 March 2025 , website=

State Council Information Office The State Council Information Office (SCIO) is the chief information office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and an external name of the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Historically, SCIO w ...

The report generally includes the review of the previous year's work, overall deployment of this year's work, and key work tasks for this year. It also includes content on diplomacy and the international situation. In a year of the change of government every five years, the report also adds a section about the "Review of Work in the Past Five Years" section to summarize the overall work of the current government over the past five years. The NPC votes whether to approve the government work report.

References

State Council of China Government documents of China