The People's Republic of China is a unitary, Marxist-Leninist, one-party socialist republic. The Communist Party of China (CPC) holds ultimate political authority, and its General Secretary is the paramount leader, concurrently serving as the President (head of state) and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The highest organ of state power is the National People's Congress (NPC), which meets annually to pass legislation and approve national policy directions. The State Council, led by the Premier, functions as the chief administrative authority and oversees various ministries and commissions.
Administratively, China is divided into 22 provinces (the PRC considers Taiwan its 23rd province), 5 autonomous regions (Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, Xinjiang), 4 direct-administered municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing), and 2 Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The SARs operate under the principle of "One Country, Two Systems," retaining their own economic and legal systems, though Beijing maintains ultimate authority.
