The Mobility Of Chinese Political Elites

Any community cannot run orderly without political elite at any time, but the political elite groups of different times or under different regimes differ in producing way and fluidity procedure. Focusing on China’s secretary of provincial Party Committee (hereinafter referred to as provincial secretary), the article is aimed to reveal the state and characteristics of the fluidity of China’s political elites.Under the influence of the change of management hierarchy, economy, and society, there are remarkable structural changes in the group of political elites, the backbone of China’s governance structure. Though taking the provincial secretaries of 31 provinces from the 12th National People’s Congress to the 17th National Congress as samples and summarizing the characteristics of their ages, party standings, service lengths, and education backgrounds, the article makes a conclusion that provincial secretary has the tendency of low age and is better educated. The conclusion shows that China’s retirement system of leading cadres and four standards of cadres (making cadres more revolutionary, younger in average age, better educated, and professionally more competent) have been put into force effectively.Besides these changes in physical characteristics, there are slight changes in the fluidity of political elites. According to the survey on the office-assuming date and service length (including provincial exchange, promotion, and transitional retirement) showed in provincial secretaries’ resumes, the fluidity of political elites differs with times or provinces. The number of the provincial secretaries from Party Central Committee and those from provincial exchanges has been on the rise year by year. As regards our province, the number of the provincial secretaries who are promoted to another post decreases but still remains at a high level. While that of the provincial secretaries who serve for consecutive terms maintains at a low level. In accordance with the data of promotion, these provinces like Beijng, Guangdong province, Henan province, Shandong province, Zhejiang province, Xizang province, and Shanxi province are the cradles of the provincial secretaries who will be promoted. The provincial secretaries of these provinces may take office at the Standing Committee of Political Bureau or be promoted to the deputies of national level. Across the country, most provincial secretaries retire transitionally through holding a post in the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at national or provincial level, or transferring to other peer departments.Third, most provinces will complete the term changing of provincial secretary before Congress of Party Representatives, especially the provinces of mid-south region and southwest region after the 16th National People’s Congress. Similarly, the number of the provincial secretaries assigned by Party Central Committee has increased in the two regions. Chairman Jiang Zemin attached great importance to the peripheral provinces with unstable factors, while Chairman Hu Jintao stressed the Eastern China and mid-south region with flourishing economy. In a word, term changing gives priority to stability and puts the difficult problems and peripheral provinces over the easy problems and inside provinces.Static structural variables can illuminate the structural change of elites, since professional history can reflect the growth trace of provincial secretaries. Through analyzing the provincial secretaries who are promoted by the virtue of geographical location or technologies and skills, and those from Party Central Committee, we find the provincial secretaries who have worked at Party Central Committee are more likely to be promoted, that most provincial secretaries with skills and technologies tend to stay at the original post, and that those who hold the post of provincial secretaries as a result of geographical fact have a higher percentage of transitional retirement. Moreover, the service length (working experience) of provincial secretary is not the primary element for their promotion and removal.The article has limitations in analyzing the resumes and backgrounds of provincial secretaries. Due to the lack of empirical data, I need perfect materials to make my study results more precise.