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 autho ...

, 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, mi ...

(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 * Filing ...

). 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 govern ...

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, ...

) 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, he became Assistant to the Minister of For ...

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 Sichu ...

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, an ...

decided to cut short his attendance to return to China in order to deal with the July 2009 Ürümqi riots.

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 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 192 ...

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 t ...

# 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 P ...

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 # Zhang Jingfu # Zhang Aiping ; 6th State Council (1983–1988) #

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

# Zhang Jingfu # Zhang Aiping # Wu Xueqian # Wang Bingqian #

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 ; 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 member ...

Li Guixian Li Guixian (; born August 1937) is a retired politician of the People's Republic of China, and a governor of People's Bank of China in 1988–1993. Li is a native of Gaizhou, Liaoning Province. He studied at the Chinese University of Science an ...

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

# Chi Haotian # Song Jian #

# Chen Junsheng # Ismail Amat # Peng Peiyun # Luo Gan - Secretary-General of the State Council ; 9th State Council (1998–2003) # Chi Haotian # Luo Gan # 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