On October 21, 1949, the Government Administration Council of the Central People's Government held its first meeting in Beijing, and the executive arm of the new republic began work with Zhou Enlai as premier. The council had been appointed by the Central People's Government Council, which had met at the start of October, three weeks after the founding of the People's Republic on October 1. Its members included Dong Biwu, Chen Yun, Guo Moruo and Huang Yanpei as deputy premiers. The posts were new.
The body took over the running of the country at a time when much of the economy was disrupted by years of war. Its ministries handled finance, trade, industry, agriculture, transport, education and health, and it had to deal with inflation, food supply and the restoration of railways, and the new government moved quickly to stabilise prices and to bring the currency under control over the following year and a half. The work was urgent. It also administered the areas that were taken over as the civil war ended.
The name reflected the structure that had been agreed in the common programme of September 1949, which set out the framework of the state until a formal constitution could be drawn up. The council acted as the cabinet of the central government and issued regulations in the name of the state. In 1954 the first constitution replaced the common programme, and the Government Administration Council was replaced by the State Council, and Zhou Enlai stayed as premier in the new body. The change came in 1954.
The names and the structure of the early ministries are studied as the beginning of the administrative system of the People's Republic, and its first meetings set the pattern for the cabinet of the central government. The building in which the council met is part of the government compound in Beijing. Its work covered the first five years of the republic.