New book provides a rare glimpse into secretive world of CPC

Sixty-four years in power and still going strong, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) has come out with a new book highlighting the successes of its "collective leadership" system besides providing rare glimpses into most secretive and opaque style of its functioning.
The book "China's Collective Leadership System" authored by Hu Angang, who is an advisor to CPC and state leaders on key issues, reveals the history and the inner working process of the Standing Committee of the politburo of the party comprising of seven members which virtually rules the country.
The present Standing Committee headed by President Xi Jinping was condensed from nine to seven members in the once-in-a-decade leadership change during the 18th Congress of the party last November.

The Standing Committee is chosen from 25-member politburo, regarded as the highest decision making body.
Besides Xi, the present Standing Committee is composed of seven members, Premier Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli.
The Standing Committee meets on a regular basis, with each member expressing their own opinions on specific issues, as well as the opinions on behalf of the institutions they are in charge of, according to the book.

Once a collective decision is made by the meeting, members of the Standing Committee convey the decision to institutions they are in charge of so that those institutions can act accordingly, says the book.

Members of the Standing Committee also conduct field studies to aid them in decision-making, including studies of serious natural disasters and major public incidents, according to the book.
An academic at Tsinghua University, Hu tells in a systematic way the history and development of the collective leadership system of the party, while discussed in details the decision-making mechanism used by the Standing Committee, a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Proposed by late founder and Chairman Mao Zedong, the Standing Committee system was established in 1956 as the core of the CPC leadership.