How are members of China’s People’s Congresses chosen at the county level?

In China’s constitutional framework, members of the People’s Congresses at the county level are chosen through direct popular suffrage. Under the 1982 constitution, all citizens who are 18 years of age or older and have not been deprived of their political rights are permitted to vote in these elections.1

While the constitution outlines this process for local representation, it is important to note that the actual decision-making authority in the Chinese political system resides primarily within the state’s executive organs and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), rather than the People’s Congresses. For levels of government above the county, delegates are not chosen by direct popular vote; instead, they are elected by the members of the People’s Congress at the next lower administrative level.1