Party members hold most senior government positions at all levels of administration.
Ultimate authority rests with the 22 members of the CCP Politburo and, in particular, its seven-member Standing Committee. Senior leaders generally agree on the need for further economic reform, but stability is still a paramount concern, and there remain differences within the leadership over the content, pace, and goals of reform. The September 1997 15th Communist Party Congress enhanced the power of Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin and endorsed policies to restructure, close, or privatize the bulk of China's state-owned enterprises. These policies were affirmed in March 1998 during the first annual session of the Ninth NPC, which also passed a sweeping reform of China's government apparatus. The number of ministries and commissions was reduced from 40 to 29, and by the end of the year the number of central government civil servants had been cut approximately in half.