Quick facts

• The State Council’s Counselors’ Office was set up in November 1949 by China’s former top leaders. The Central Research Institute of Culture and History of the Communist Party of China was set up in July 1951. Both departments served as a united front for non Communist senior scholars and dignitaries. The two departments use the same office building.

• A working ordinance was introduced in January 2010 limiting the term of every consultant to five years. The document also says consultants should be between 55 and 65 years of age when they are hired for the first time. The age for a sitting consultant should not exceed 70. Consultants should be mainly non-Party members or politically unaffiliated.

• In November 2008 ,a guest research fellow system was set up allowing the Counselors’ Office to hire researchers in professional fields. At present, 23 people are employed as guest research fellows.

• To date, 219 people have been hired as consultants and 309 as members of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History of the Communist Party of China.