The leader of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is the highest-ranking official and head of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Since 1982, the leader of the CCP is equivalent to the office of the
General Secretary of the Central Committee. Since its formation in 1921, the leader's post has been titled as Secretary of the Central Bureau (1921–1922),
Chairman (1922–1925, 1928–1931, and 1943–1982), and General Secretary (1925–1928, 1931–1943, and 1982 onwards).
By
custom the party leader has either been elected by the Central Committee or the
Central Politburo. There were several name changes until
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 (P ...
finally formalized the office of Chairman of the Central Committee. Since 1982, the
CCP National Congress and its 1st CC Plenary Session has been the main institutional setting in which the CCP leadership are elected. From 1992 onwards, every party leader has been elected by a 1st CC Plenary Session. In the period 1928–45 the CCP leader was elected by conference, meetings of the Central Committee or by decisions of the Politburo. The last exception to this rule is
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as p ...
, who was elected at the 4th Plenary Session of the
13th Central Committee in the aftermath of the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Currently, to be nominated for the office of general secretary, one has to be a 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). Histor ...
.
Despite breaching the
Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, several individuals (who are not included in the list) have been ''de facto'' leaders of the CCP without holding formal positions of power.
Wang Ming
Wang may refer to:
Names
* Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname
* Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname
* Titles in Chinese nobility
* A title in Korean nobility
* A title in Mongolian nobility
Places
* Wang River in Thaila ...
was briefly in charge in 1931 after
Xiang Zhongfa
Xiang Zhongfa (; 1879 – June 24, 1931) was one of the early senior leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Early life
Xiang was born in 1879 to a poor family living in Hanchuan, Hubei. He dropped out of elementary school to move with h ...
was jailed by
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
forces, while
Li Lisan
Li Lisan (; November 18, 1899 – June 22, 1967) was a Chinese politician, member of the Politburo, and later a member of the Central Committee.
Early years
Li was born in Liling, Hunan province in China in 1899, under the name of Li R ...
is considered to have been the real person in-charge for most of Xiang's tenure.
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 CCP ...
is the last CCP official to achieve this; he never served as chairman or general secretary, his highest post being
Chairman of the Central Military Commission (
commander-in-chief).
Leader offices
Leaders
See also
*
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader o ...
*
Chairman of the Central Military Commission
*
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 ...
*
Leadership core
*
Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
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). Histor ...
*
Orders of precedence in the People's Republic of 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 ...
*
List of leaders of the Kuomintang
The Chairman of the Kuomintang is the leader of the Kuomintang in the Republic of China. The position used to be titled as President (1912–1914), Premier (1919–1925), Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (1925–1938), Director-General ...
*
List of leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party
*
List of national leaders of the People's Republic of China
National leaders is the generic version of "Party and State Leaders" (), a political jargon used by official documents and by official media in China, referring to specific senior officials of the People's Republic of China. The range of Pa ...
References
Citations
Sources
; General references
References for when individuals were elected to the CCP leadership offices, the name of the offices and when they established and were abolished are found below:
*
*
; Articles and journal entries
*
; Books
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{{CCPHeads
Leaders of political parties in China
China politics-related lists