Leader of the Chinese Communist Party

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).

General Secretary/Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
中共中央主要负责人
Logo of the Chinese Communist Party
Flag of the Chinese Communist Party
Incumbent
Xi Jinping
since 15 November 2012
Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee
Secretariat
TypeParty leader
Reports toNational Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
SeatZhongnanhai
Beijing, People's Republic of China
NominatorCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
AppointerCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Term lengthFive years, no term limit
Constituting instrumentConstitution of the Chinese Communist Party
Inaugural holderChen Duxiu
Formation1 July 1921
DeputyVice Chairman (1956–1982)
leader of the Communist Party of China Central Committee
Simplified Chinese中共中央主要负责人
Traditional Chinese中共中央主要負責人
Literal meaningCPC Central Committee primary responsible person
China
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By custom the party leader has either been elected by the Central Committee or the Central Politburo.[1] There were several name changes until Mao Zedong finally formalised the office of Chairman of the Central Committee.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] The last exception to this rule is Jiang Zemin, who was elected at the 4th Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.[2] Currently, to be nominated for the office of General Secretary, one has to be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.[3]

Despite breaching the party's constitution, several individuals (who are not included in the list) have been de facto leaders of the CCP without holding formal positions of power.[4] Wang Ming was briefly in charge in 1931 after Xiang Zhongfa was jailed by Kuomintang forces, while Li Lisan is considered to have been the real person in-charge for most of Xiang's tenure.[4] Deng Xiaoping 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).[5]

Leader offices
Title Existence Established
Secretary of the Central Bureau 1921–1922 1st National Congress
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee 1922–1923 2nd National Congress
General Secretary of the Central Bureau 1923–1925 3rd National Congress
General Secretary of the Central Executive Committee 1925–1927 4th National Congress
General Secretary of the Central Committee 1927–1928 5th National Congress
Chairman of the Central Committee 1928–1931 6th National Congress
General Secretary of the Central Committee 1931–1943 4th Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee
Chairman of the Central Politburo 1943–1945 Politburo resolution
Chairman of the Central Secretariat 1943–1945 Politburo resolution
Chairman of the Central Committee 1945–1982 7th National Congress
General Secretary of the Central Committee 1982 onwards 12th National Congress

Leaders
No. Name
(birth–death)		 Took office Left office Length of tenure Central Committee Portfolios held while leader Portrait
1 Chen Duxiu
陈独秀
(1879–1942)		 1 July 1921 7 August 1927 6 years and 38 days 2nd (1922–23)
3rd (1923–25)
4th (1925–27)
—
2 Xiang Zhongfa
向忠发
(1880–1931)		 1 July 1928 24 June 1931 2 years and 359 days 5th (1927–28)
6th (1928–45)
3 Bo Gu
博古
(1907–1946)		 September 1931 17 January 1935 3 years and 139 days 6th (1928–45)
—
4 Zhang Wentian
张闻天
(1900–1976)		 17 January 1935 20 March 1943 8 years and 63 days 6th (1928–45)
—
5 Mao Zedong
毛泽东
(1893–1976)		 20 March 1943 9 September 1976 33 years and 174 days 6th (1928–45)
7th (1945–56)
8th (1956–69)
9th (1969–73)
10th (1973–77)
6 Hua Guofeng
华国锋
(1921–2008)		 7 October 1976 28 June 1981 4 years and 265 days 11th (1977–82)
7 Hu Yaobang
胡耀邦
(1915–1989)		 29 June 1981 15 January 1987 5 years and 201 days 11th (1977–82)
12th (1982–87)
8 Zhao Ziyang
赵紫阳
(1919–2005)		 16 January 1987 24 June 1989 2 years and 160 days 12th (1982–87)
13th (1987–92)
9 Jiang Zemin
江泽民
(born 1926)		 24 June 1989 15 November 2002 13 years and 145 days 13th (1987–92)
14th (1992–97)
15th (1997–02)
10 Hu Jintao
胡锦涛
(born 1942)		 15 November 2002 15 November 2012 10 years and 1 day 16th (2002–07)
17th (2007–12)
11 Xi Jinping
习近平
(born 1953)		 15 November 2012 Incumbent 8 years and 87 days 18th (2012–17)
19th (2017–22)

See also

References

Citations
  1. Wu 2015, p. 10.
  2. Wang 2012, p. 12.
  3. 19th National Congress (2017). Constitution of the Communist Party of China. p. 18.
  4. Wu 2015, pp. 10–11.
  5. Wu 2015, p. 11.

Sources
General references

References for when the individuals were elected to the office of CPC leader, the name of the offices and when they established and were abolished are found below:

Articles and journal entries
Books
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