Chongqing - In 2026, the Communist Party of China (CPC) marks its 105th anniversary. Discussions of power supervision often refer to the Western separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers. China shares the same concern about how to prevent the abuse of public power, but has developed a different framework shaped by its historical experience, social conditions, and governance needs.

According to Zheng Changzhong, Professor at Fudan University, China’s answer is not to divide power among opposing institutions, but to build a coordinated system of oversight under the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC.

“China does not practice the separation and opposition of powers; instead, it relies on multi-level supervision to confine public power within an institutional cage,” Zheng said.

The system brings together CPC discipline, state oversight, external supervision, and institutional rules. Rather than institutional confrontation, it seeks to monitor the exercise of public power across different levels, sectors, and procedures.

“Intra-Party supervision is at the core,” Zheng said.

The first layer focuses on high-risk areas of public authority, from major decisions and personnel matters to public funds. It works through disciplinary inspection, supervisory oversight, and inspection tours, with clean governance treated as a bottom line for officials.

A second guardrail comes from state institutions operating under law. The National People’s Congress reviews budgets and major plans while supervising the government. Courts and procuratorates perform their legal duties, and supervisory organs oversee all civil servants.

External oversight provides another channel. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) conducts regular democratic supervision, while social oversight from the public includes media scrutiny, online suggestions, and petitions via letters and visits. Together, they allow concerns over the misuse of power to be raised through lawful procedures.

The final aspect is institutional constraint, which defines the boundaries of power. This includes implementing lists of government powers to make authority explicit and prevent personal arbitrariness. Lifelong accountability also ensures that abuses of power can be held accountable over time.

“It is a full-coverage supervision system aimed at curbing the corruption of power,” Zheng said.

(Wanqing Lu, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)