The local people’s congress system

There are four levels of local people’s congresses — provincial, municipal, county and township — which each have a five-year term of office.

Areas overseen: The provincial people’s congress: provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

The municipal people’s congress: cities, which are divided into districts, and autonomous prefectures.

The county-level congress: county-level cities, municipal districts, counties and autonomous counties.

The township-level congress: townships and towns.

The congresses are established via elections:

The provincial and municipal congresses are elected by the lower-level congresses, while county and township-level bodies are elected directly by local voters.

County and township elections are only valid if more than 50 percent of voters participate in person or instruct a third party to vote on their behalf via signed letters.

Candidates must win more than 50 percent of the vote before they can be elected as deputies to the people’s congress.

When electing deputies for congresses higher than county level, it is not necessary for candidates to be deputies of the congresses that are voting.

Ten or more voters can jointly nominate candidates to become deputies at county- and townshiplevel people’s congresses.

Fifty or more voters can jointly impeach a countylevel deputy for their electoral district, while unseating a township level deputy requires the participation of at least 30 voters from the deputy’s electoral district.