The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
of the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
(CCP), the
sole ruling party of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the
paramount leader
Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...
of the PRC.
Overview
According to the
Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, the general secretary serves as an
''ex officio'' member of the
Politburo Standing Committee
The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...
, China's ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' top decision-making body. The general secretary is also the head of the
Secretariat
Secretariat may refer to:
* Secretariat (administrative office)
* Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...
. Since 1989, the holder of the post has been, except for transitional periods, the
Chairman of the Central Military Commission Chairman of the Central Military Commission may refer to:
*Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)
*Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea
See also
*Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the ...
, making the holder the
supreme commander of the
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
. The position of general secretary is the highest authority leading China's
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
,
State Council State Council may refer to:
Government
* State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President
* State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
,
Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
,
Supreme People's Court
The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC; ) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of nation ...
and
Supreme People's Procuratorate
The Supreme People's Procuratorate () is the highest national agency responsible for legal prosecution and investigation in the People's Republic of China. Conceived initially in 1949 as the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office, the agency was r ...
in the
Chinese government
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...
. As the top leader of the world's largest economy by
GDP purchasing power parity (PPP), the second largest economy by
GDP nominal, the
largest military in the world by personnel, a recognized
nuclear weapons state
Eight sovereign states have publicly announced successful detonation of nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). In order of acquisi ...
,
U.N. Security Council permanent member, and a
potential superpower
A potential superpower is a state or a political and economic entity that is speculated to be—or to have the potential to soon become—a superpower.
Currently, only the United States fulfills the criteria to be considered a superpower. How ...
, the general secretary is considered to be one of the world's most powerful political figures.
The CCP general secretary is nominally elected by the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...
. In practice, the ''de facto'' method of selecting the general secretary has varied over time. The two most recent general secretaries,
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...
and
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
, were first elevated to the position of first Secretary of the Secretariat in the same process used to determine the membership and roles of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee. Under this informal process, the first secretary would be chosen during deliberations by incumbent Politburo members and retired Politburo Standing Committee members in the lead up to a
Party Congress
The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...
. The first secretary would later succeed the retiring general secretary as part of a generational leadership transition at the subsequent party congress.
The incumbent general secretary is Xi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012 and was re-elected twice on 25 October 2017 and 23 October 2022 respectively. Xi was speculated to rule the party and the country after the
20th National Congress in 2022, removing the previous ''de facto'' two-
term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
, which was confirmed at the Congress. The last person to rule the country for more than two terms was
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, who served as
Chairman of the CCP Central Committee from 1945 until
his death in 1976.
Powers and position
Since the abolition of the post of
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party by the
12th Central Committee in 1982, the general secretary has been the highest-ranking official of the party and heads the
Central Secretariat,
Political Bureau
A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist party, communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states.
Names
The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian language, Russian ''Pol ...
and its
Standing Committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
.
Since its revival in 1982, the post of general secretary has been the highest office in the CCP, though it did not become the most powerful post until
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
's retirement in 1990. As China is a
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
, the general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over state and government, and is usually considered the "
paramount leader
Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...
" of China. However, most of the people until
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
who have held the post have held far less power than
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
. Since the mid-1990s, the general secretary has traditionally also held the post of
president of China. While the presidency is a ceremonial post, it is customary for the general secretary to assume the presidency to confirm his status as
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
.
Since Xi Jinping's election, two new bodies of the CCP, the
National Security Commission and
Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission
The Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission (), formerly known as the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms () is a policy formulation and implementation body set up under the Politburo of the Chinese Communis ...
, have been established, ostensibly concentrating political power in the "paramount leader" to a greater degree than anyone since Mao.
These bodies were tasked with establishing the general policy direction for national security as well as the agenda for economic reform. Both groups are headed by the CCP general secretary, thus the power of the general secretary has become more concentrated.
List of general secretaries
See also
*
*
Leadership core
In modern Chinese politics, a leadership core or core leader () refers to a person who is recognized as central to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Four individuals so far have been given this designation: Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, ...
*
Orders of precedence in China
The orders of precedence in China is the ranking of political leaders in China for the purposes of event protocol and to arrange the ordering of names in official news bulletins, both written and televised. It is also sometimes used to assess ...
*
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
*
Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
The Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party () was the second-highest rank after the Chairman within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1956 to 1982. The position was phased out after 1982 in order to remove the " ...
*
Secretary-general of the Chinese Communist Party
The Secretary-general of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, 中共中央秘书长) was a senior leadership position of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to assist in the daily work of the Central Committee. The Secretary-general was established at t ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:General Secretary Of The Communist Party Of China
Leaders of political parties in China
1921 establishments in China