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The Party's Organization Department appoints, promotes, and removes the heads of ministries, provinces, courts, universities, media outlets, and the largest state-owned companies. Because every senior career depends on this office rather than on shareholders, voters, or legal statute, the Party can steer institutions it does not formally run.
In November 2004 the Party abruptly reassigned the heads of China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, moving them between rival firms. These were companies listed on foreign stock exchanges with international shareholders, and none of those shareholders or boards was consulted. The episode shows that corporate governance at China's national champions was theatre layered over Party appointment power.
Executives rotate between corporate posts and government or Party posts. As a result, a CEO's real accountability runs upward to Party superiors, and market reforms such as stock listings, boards, and foreign investors leave the core chain of command intact.
Look for the body that investigates the powerful, not the constitution, to find where sovereignty sits. In China the Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection detains and interrogates officials under 'shuanggui' before courts ever see a case. That means anti-corruption work is controlled by the Party itself, which decides who falls and when, and the courts only ratify the outcome afterward.