CPPCC heads no longer sit on CPC local committees

Chairpersons of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) provincial committees across 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities nationwide no longer hold concurrent positions in the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) provincial committees, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

"The change signals an adjustment of China's political institutions, which is more significant than the delegation of power from central to local authorities," Gu Yeli, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"The change reduces the number of officials in CPC provincial committees and makes the Party's administrative management work more efficient," Gu said.

According to Gu, the modification indicates a separation of the Party committee from the CPPCC. "Although the CPPCC is not a form of government, it is a political organization and should carry out its duties more independently."

Zhu Guoming, chairman of the CPPCC Guangdong Committee, for instance, no longer holds the post of deputy secretary of the CPC Guangdong Committee nor does he sit on the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Committee, the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily reported on Tuesday, making Zhu the last CPPCC provincial chairperson to be removed from the standing committee of a CPC provincial committee.

As an institution for multiparty cooperation and political consultations led by the CPC, the CPPCC plays the important role of advancing the cause of Chinese socialist multiparty cooperation.

Within the CPPCC, all democratic parties can air opinions on major national and local affairs and discuss problems that may arise in the course of multiparty cooperation through various forms, according to the official CPPCC website.