The Premier of the State Council (simplified Chinese: 国务院总理; traditional Chinese: 國務院總理; pinyin: guówùyuàn zŏnglĭ), sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "Prime Minister", is the Chairman of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (the "Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China" after 1954), who is the head of government. This position was originally known as Premier of the Government Administration Council (Chinese: 政務院總理) and changed to its current name in 1954. The Premier is formally approved by the National People's Congress upon the apparent nomination of the President. In practice, both the President and the Premier are selected once every five years[citation needed]. The Premier has always been a member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China.
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The Premier is responsible for organizing and administering the Chinese civil bureaucracy. This includes overseeing the various ministries, departments, commissions and statutory agencies. Apparently, the Premier does not have authority over the People's Liberation Army, but the Premier is the Chairman of the National Defense Mobilization Committee of China. In recent years, there has been a division of responsibilities between the Premier and the President of the People's Republic of China (who is actually the General Secretary of CPC) wherein the Premier is responsible for the technical details of implementing government policy while the President (General Secretary) gathers the political support necessary for government policy.
The Premier has been supported by four vice premiers since Deng Xiaoping's reform in 1983.
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