Political systems of China and US

The political systems of China and the United States are fundamentally different: China
is a socialist country, while the United States is a capitalist country. Both countries have
distinct constitutions as well, the Chinese being of socialist type and the American
being of capitalist type.

The political system and form of government in the People's Republic of China is one-
party and takes place within a socialist republic run by the Communist Party of China.
The governing role of the Communist Party is stated in the Constitution of the People's
Republic of China. State power is exercised through the Communist Party, the Central
People's Government and their regional and local representation. The politics of the
People’s Republic of China is based on a power structure that includes three
fundamental areas: the Party "subordinated to it", the Army and the State. The head of
the State corresponds to the president of the People's Republic of China while the leader
of the Party is its general secretary and the leader of the Army is the president of the
Central Military Commission. At present, these three positions are occupied by the
same man, Xi Jinping.1 2

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic. The US State

Department covers the state structure of the federal state and the state structure of the
individual states, each of which has its own constitution. The federal state is governed
by the Constitution and was originally established by the 13 states. According to the
Constitution, US government is organized and functions on the constitutional principle
of separation of powers from legislative, executive and judicial. The US President (the
head of the country and the federal government), the US Congress, and the judiciary are
the three authorities of the national government, and the individual states have separate
regional governments, re-established on the basis of the independence of the three
authoritie.

Americans hold the individual in the highest regard, whereas Chinese hold the
community in the highest regard. When the United States formed its constitution, it
specifically dictated the unalienable rights of every person. The freedom to speech, to
press, to petition, to assemble, these were given to the people so that the government

1
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mao-Zedong
2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_China
would never have too much power over its citizens. This is not how the Chinese
government operates at all. It does not take each person’s happiness into consideration,
only the good of the country as a whole.

We can say that the differencesof the political systems of both countries translate into
wider societal differences as well. For example, Americans are taught to question every
move of the government and to know their rights. Americans want the government to be
as transparent as possible, so they can see how and in what ways the appointed officials
are working to better the life of citizens. People in China are taught to trust their
government almost blindly. The Chinese people do not elect government officials, they
do not get to choose between parties, they don’t vote on referendums. They simply trust
that the government is always doing its best to make China the best it can be. The
reason they are willing to have such strong trust in the government is that the CCP has
delivered in the past and generally has continued to deliver. They have grown the
economy exponentially nd improved living conditions for its millions of citizens. They
have not shown any sign of stopping these improvements.

Economic partnership

The history of US-China trade and economic relations dates back to the 19th century. At
the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries, the United States proclaimed the “open door”
policy. It envisaged creating and maintaining, at least externally and formally, an equal
position in China for all competitors in the struggle for the Chinese market and for
influence in China. Such a policy was connected with the fact that, not having political
and international weight like other great powers, the United States could not provide for
itself the exclusive sphere of influence in China and therefore advocated "equal
opportunities" to use its economic resources.

But already in the 20s and 30s, the United States actually abandoned the open door
policy. During this period, the United States had already acquired the status of one of
the leading countries in the world, so they could pursue policies aimed at ensuring
American economic interests, as well as competing on equal terms with other powers
for the Chinese market.

When Mao Zedong came to power in 1949 and before Nixon’s visit to China in 1972,
the two countries were in a state of confrontation and there were no economic ties
between them. Despite the fact that “within the Chinese leadership, the issue of
normalizing relations with the United States caused controversy,” in the second half of
the 1970s, intergovernmental, economic, and cultural ties between the United States and
the China were restored.