ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the following questions: those are how is the Chinese intergovernmental relation structured? How does it work? How did it arise? What are the associated current issues of concern? In a nutshell, China's intergovernmental relations can be divided into three distinctive periods: the feudal stage, the republic stage, and the People's Republic stage. A large number of presidents and acting presidents are associated with the Republic of China between 1913 and 1928. The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 and a central question for the new regime was how to consolidate power and promote the unity of the country. China's intergovernmental relations have developed from being straight top-down since 1949 to having gradually become increasingly complex since the 1980s. The vicissitudes of the changes over the years reveal a trajectory of how China has turned from a highly centralized traditional society into a developing modern state that is continuing its struggle with reform and decentralization.
