China's House of Non-Representatives

Article 57 of China's constitution stipulates, "The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China is the highest organ of state power." [1]

But this is largely on paper. In reality, state power is in firmly the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. By and large, the NPC, though called China's parliament, is to endorse and, to a certain extent, elaborate policy principles set by the CCP.

Still, in China's political system, the NPC remains a symbol of power and privilege given its constitutional status. From this perspective, who is and is not being named an NPC deputy can often tell us who is in power and/or belongs to the privileged class.