Personnel News | Who Can Become a Government Counselor

Who can serve as a government counselor?
The Government Website of Gansu Province recently announced that after the study of the provincial government, Zhao Shengliang was appointed as a counselor to the Gansu Provincial People’s Government.
According to public information, Zhao Shengliang was born in 1964 in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province. He holds a Ph.D. degree in literature and is currently a research curator. He has served as the deputy director and director of the editor department of Dunhuang Research Institute, as well as the vice president and president of Dunhuang Research Institute. He is now the secretary of the Party Committee of Dunhuang Research Institute, head of the research department, and chairman of the academic committee.
The counselor system of the People’s Republic of China has a history of more than 70 years. The government counselor office is an internal organization with united front and consultative nature directly under the government. The difference between it and other think tank institutions lies in that counselors are government personnel who participate in politics and make suggestions as individuals. The advisory opinions they propose are directly submitted to government leaders through a “straight channel”.
The Council for National Affairs and the Central Committee for Cultural and Historical Research were established under the initiative of the older generation of revolutionaries such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. The article “Government Counselor System: A Side View of the People’s Democracy” mentioned that on October 28, 1949, Zhou Enlai personally presided over the selection of 32 counselors for the Central Political Bureau, including representatives from democratic parties, personnel from the old Nationalist regime, and senior experts and scholars. On November 11 of the same year, the Central Political Bureau Counselor Office was formally established as one of the first institutions established by the government. Since then, local government counselor offices have been established successively.
The Council for National Affairs is a direct subordinate organization of the State Council with its main responsibility to organize counselors to conduct research on key tasks of government work, understand and reflect public sentiment and social realities, supervise government work, and provide advice, suggestions and criticisms. The Council also plays a crucial part in modifying and proposing draft laws, government work reports, and other important documents. The Central Committee for Cultural and Historical Research was established in July 1951 and started working with the Council for National Affairs in July 1969 by sharing the same working agency.
The counselors to both the Council for National Affairs and the Central Committee for Cultural and Historical Research are appointed by the Premier of the State Council. They are experts and scholars with certain representativeness, significant social influence, high profile, mainly from non-Party representatives. According to research needs, they also appoint special researchers. Currently, there are 32 counselors listed on the official website of the Council for National Affairs.
The “Regulations on Government Counselor Work” (hereinafter referred to as “Regulations”), which has been implemented since January 1st, 2010 stipulates that counselor working institutions established by provinces with autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, as well as district-level people’s governments are responsible for counselor work at their respective levels. The superior government counselor working institutions guide the work of subordinate government counselor working institutions.
According to the Regulations, counselors are appointed on a contract basis. The counselors to State Council are appointed by the Premier of State Council while those to provincial governments are appointed by respective governors or chairpersons of autonomous regions or cities with district-level administrations may appoint their own counselors through appointment process; counselors at district level are appointed by respective municipal mayors based on regulations stipulating that they are primarily appointed from members of democratic parties or non-affiliated individuals as well as experts or scholars who are Party members.
The Regulations also mentioned that counselors serve for a term of no more than five years. They should have certain representativeness, significant social influence and profile with strong capabilities in participating in politics and providing advice or consultation. In addition, they should be at least 55 years old but not older than 65 years old at their first appointment with an upper age limit of 70 years old for serving as counselors.
There are many well-known figures among State Council counselors and government counselors at various levels. According to media reports, all 32 counselors recruited in the first batch in 1949 were renowned figures with high social prestige including Li Zheng who was a member of Nationalist Party’s Political Bureau Committee, Nanjing Government’s peace talks representative Xu Baoliang who was a member of Nationalist Government’s legislative committee Cheng Xingling who participated in Hunan’s peaceful rebellion as well as Liu Chengle who participated in democratic revolution during Emperor Xiaowen’s reign along with Tan Dongjing who was one of founders of Progressive Education Association during early Republic period all participated during that time non-Party officials serving as counselors which can also be found today such as famous writers Feng Jicai Zhang Kangkang who once served as counselors to State Council or prominent figures like economist Lin Yifu whose past experience has been revealed recently There is also Taiyuan former mayor Geng Yanbo who made public appearance as President of Shanxi Famous People Union recently after stepping down from his position as Taiyuan mayor in 2019 He was also appointed as a government advisor by Shanxi province before officially serving his position again among famous personnels that had been employed serving duties similar purposes across country at different levels previously before that period while engaging in political affairs related works over time though their specific positions may vary including work done across fields by these well known individuals they share similar values spirit dedication mission same lofty cause dedication along their life courses toward serving society while carrying out their duties within specific positions though they may be different from each other specifically within their work fields they all hold same high hopes aspirations dreams ideals values about how they want future society looks like ultimately reflecting shared mission responsibilities across generations along life courses toward building better future society while fulfilling their duties within specific positions though they may be different from each other specifically within their work fields their values remain same such spirit remains same as they work tirelessly together contributing toward greater progress making progress toward achieving goals making progress toward building better future society through their efforts dedication contributions etc