Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee

Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China

中共中央政法委员会
Abbreviation	Chinese: 中央政法委; pinyin: Zhōngyāng Zhèngfǎwěi; literally: "Central Poli-Legal Commission")
Predecessor	Central Leading Group for Political and Legal Affairs
Formation	1980
Founder	CPC Central Committee
Type	Commission directly reporting to the Central Committee
Legal status	Active
Location	14 Beichizi Street (北池子大街), Dongcheng District, Beijing
Region	Mainland China
Official language	Standard Chinese
Head	Meng Jianzhu
Deputy Head	Guo Shengkun
(Other) Members	9
Secretary-General	Wang Yongqing
Parent organization	CPC Central Committee
Website	www.chinapeace.gov.cn

The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, commonly referred to as Zhongyang Zhengfawei (中央政法委, literally "Central Poli-Legal Commission") in Chinese, is the organization under the Party's Central Committee responsible for political and legal affairs. In practice the organization oversees all legal enforcement authorities, including the police force, making it a very powerful organ.

All the Party committees of provinces, municipalities, counties and autonomous regions establish respective politics and law commissions.

The Commission is headed by a secretary who is usually a Central Politburo member.

The Commission was preceded by a Politics and Law Leading Group (政法领导小组; Zhèngfǎ Lǐngdǎo Xiǎozǔ) which was set up in 1958, with Peng Zhen as its leader. During the Cultural Revolution it was led by Ji Dengkui, who served as group leader until 24 January 1980, when the Commission was established, with Peng Zhen back as its secretary. The Commission was reverted to Leading Group from May 1988 to March 1990.

After the 18th Party Congress in 2012, Meng Jianzhu replaced Zhou Yongkang as the head of the commission. However, Meng, unlike Zhou, was not elected to the 18th Politburo Standing Committee. The apparent downgrading of the post followed Zhou's connection with the Wang Lijun incident, which has discredited Chongqing politician Bo Xilai's method of using the internal security apparatus for political ends. As a result, the independence of the judiciary in China has increased.