Lower courts may also recommend cases to the Supreme People’s Court to be
granted the status of a ‘guiding case’, but they are not entitled to issue their own
‘guiding cases’ at provincial or even lower level.
Although the eight rather vapid cases are not enough for us to make a convincing
prediction, this new ‘guiding cases system’ in China is more like a semi-
manufactured product, despite the designers’ good intentions.
The Chinese presidency
One of the 2004 constitutional amendments also slightly altered the functionality of
the office of the Chinese president. The role of the president has been changing
since the 1950 s. China’s chairman, which is the original translation of the Chinese
termzhuxi(president), initially held an office with substantial powers and func-
tions, but in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution it was reduced to an
honourable position for ceremonial functions. However, since the late 1980 s China
has decided to re-strengthen the office under the convention that the presidency
should be integrated with the supreme command of Chinese military forces and
also with the Party’s leadership.
The 1982 constitution theoretically confers a symbolic role on the president.
That arrangement fitted the paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s motive to decen-
tralise the supreme authority and distribute powers to separate organs such as the
president, the Party, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission that
commands Chinese military forces. It is argued that this constitutional design was
unsuccessful, as this Chinese-style ‘check and balance’ provokes political conflict
among the heads of the state, the CPC and the military forces.^52 The former
president Jiang Zemin said:
The three offices, general secretary of the party, state chairman and
chairman of the Central Military Commission, are integrated into a
trinity system of rule. Such a leadership regime and a leadership model
is not only necessary, but also most appropriate for a party and a
country as large as ours.
53Some argue that the Chinese leadership has been aware of the fact that a recen-
tralised supreme authority is central to China’s economic boom and political
stability.
54
The 2004 constitutional amendment, stating ‘The President of the
People’s Republic of China, on behalf of the People’s Republic of China, engages
in activities involving State affairs and receives foreign diplomatic representatives’,
could be a sign of this new trend in Chinese politics.
(^52) S. Jiang, ‘Written and unwritten constitutions: a new approach to the study of consti-
tutional government in China’ ( 2010 ) 36 Modern China 30.
(^53) Ibid. (^54) Ibid.