| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party | |
|---|---|
| 中国共产党中央委员会总书记 | |
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| Style |
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| Type | |
| Status | National-level official (highest ranking official / political chief) |
| Member of | Politburo Standing Committee |
| Reports to | Central Committee |
| Residence | Qinzheng Hall,Zhongnanhai |
| Seat | Beijing |
| Nominator | Central Committee |
| Appointer | Central Committee |
| Term length | Five years, renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Party Constitution |
| Precursor | Chairman (1943–1976) |
| Formation | 23 July 1921; 104 years ago (1921-07-23) |
| First holder | Chen Duxiu |
| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中国共产党中央委员会总书记 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國共產黨中央委員會總書記 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China | ||||||
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| Commonly abbreviated as | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中共中央总书记 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中共中央總書記 | ||||||
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| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 总书记 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 總書記 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | General Secretary | ||||||
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Thegeneral secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is theleader of theChinese Communist Party (CCP), thesole ruling party of thePeople's Republic of China (PRC). The general secretary leads theCCP Central Committee. Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the country'sparamount leader. The general secretary has also been thepolitical chief position of China (above thepresident andpremier) since 1982.[1]
The position of the general secretary of the Central Committee was established at the4th Party National Congress in 1925, whenChen Duxiu, one of the founders of the CCP, was elected as the first General Secretary. After the7th National Congress, the position was replaced by theChairman of the Central Committee, which was held byMao Zedong untilhis death in 1976. The post was re-established at the12th National Congress in 1982 and replaced the Party Chairman as the highest leadership position of the CCP;Hu Yaobang was the first General Secretary. SinceJiang Zemin's leadership in the 1990s, the holder of the post has been, except for transitional periods, thepresident of China, making the holder the state representative, and thechairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), thesupreme commander of thePeople's Liberation Army (PLA).[note 1]
According to theCCP constitution, the general secretary is elected during a plenary session of the Central Committee. The general secretary serves as anex officio member of thePolitburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's top decision-making body. The general secretary is also the head of theSecretariat, and sets the agenda of Central Committee,Politburo and PSC meetings. Although the CCP constitution is are vague on the powers of the general secretary, as the leader of the sole ruling party in the country, the position effectively grants the officeholder leadership and decision-making power in the Party,government, military,law,diplomacy, andideology in China. As the leader of the world's largest economy byGDP purchasing power parity (PPP), the second largest economy byGDP nominal, thelargest military in the world by personnel, a recognizednuclear weapons state,UN Security Council permanent member, and agreat power, the general secretary is considered to be one of the world's most powerful political figures.[3]
The incumbent general secretary of the CCP Central Committee isXi Jinping, who was elected at the first plenary Session of the 19th CCP Central Committee in on 15 November 2012, and re-elected twice at the first plenary session of the 19th CCP Central Committee 25 October 2017 and thefirst plenary session of the 20th CCP Central Committee on 23 October 2022.[4]
Following the establishment of the CCP, its inaugural leader,Chen Duxiu, held various positions including secretary of the Central Bureau, chairman of the Central Executive Committee (Chinese:中央执行委员会委员长), and general secretary of the Central Committee.[5] From 11 to 22 January 1925, the4th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party issued 11 resolutions, including modifications to theCCP constitution, to succinctly encapsulate the revolutionary experiences acquired during theFirst United Front. The Chairman of the Central Executive Committee was reappointed as General Secretary, and Chen Duxiu was elected as General Secretary of the Central Committee and Director of the Central Organization Department.[6]
Between 1928 and 1943,Xiang Zhongfa,Wang Ming,Bo Gu,Zhang Wentian and others successively served as General Secretaries of the CCP. At a Politburo meeting in March 1943, the Central Committee was reorganized and the position of Chairman of the Central Secretariat was established.Mao Zedong was elected Chairman of the Politburo and Chairman of the Central Secretariat, thus establishing his unified leadership. On 19 June 1945, the7th Central Committee held its first plenary session where Mao was electedChairman of the Central Committee at the meeting, abolishing the post of general secretary.[7]
On 1 September 1982, the CCP convenedits 12th Congress, during which it resolved to amend the CCP constitution to eliminate the position of Chairman of the Central Committee, retaining only the role of General Secretary of the Central Committee.[8] It established that the responsibilities of the General Secretary would include convening meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee and the Standing Committee of the Politburo, as well as presiding over the operations of the Central Committee Secretariat.[9] The party's last chairman,Hu Yaobang, transferred to the post of General Secretary.[10]
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 untilDeng Xiaoping's retirement in 1989. Since the mid-1990s, starting withJiang Zemin, the general secretary has traditionally also held the post ofpresident of China. While the presidency is a ceremonial post, it is customary for the general secretary to assume the presidency to confirm his status asstate representative. It has additionally been held together with the post ofchairman of the Central Military Commission, making the holder thesupreme commander of thePeople's Liberation Army.[11] The system of holding the three posts simultaneously has officially been referred to as the "three-in-one" leadership system (“三位一体”领导体制).[12]
The CCP general secretary is nominally elected by a plenary meeting of theCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party from among the members of thePolitburo Standing Committee.[13] In practice, thede facto method of selecting the general secretary has varied over time.[13] According to the current CCP constitution, the term of office of the general secretary is the same as that of the Central Committee, which is five years. There is no limit to the number of consecutive terms, and theoretically, the officeholder can serve an unlimited number of terms.[14]
The powers and roles of the general secretary are vaguely defined, with no term limits or written rules for selecting a successor.[11] However, as China is aone-party state, the general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over state and government,[15] and is usually considered the "paramount leader" of China.[16] The general secretary has been thehighest-ranking official in China'spolitical system since 1982.[note 2] The location of the office of the general secretary is the Qinzheng Hall inZhongnanhai, which also serves as the headquarters of the Secretariat.[17]
According to the CCP constitution, the general secretary serves as anex officio member of the Politburo Standing Committee.[18] A Politburo meeting in October 2017 after the first plenary session of the19th CCP Central Committee stipulated that all Politburo members must make an annual written presentation to the CCP General Secretary and the Central Committee.[19] At the opening of aCCP National Congress, the general secretary delivers thepolitical report of the incumbent Central Committee, which details the work of the Central Committee in the last five years as well as the goals for the upcoming years.[20]
According to internal regulations, the general secretary is responsible for convening the meetings of the Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee. The general secretary additionally presides over the work of the Secretariat. The general secretary also sets the topics of Central Committee, Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee meetings. Internal regulations state thatdecision-making and coordinating bodies of the CCP Central Committee can convene meetings to study, decide on, and coordinate major tasks in relevant fields based on the decisions of the Central Committee and the general secretary's instructions, with the agenda items for these meetings determined or approved by the general secretary.[21]
According to Hong Kong media reports, per the implementation rules of the Central Committee'sEight-point Regulation, the status of the general secretary is superior to that of other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, enjoying a number of special treatments, which highlight the position's supreme status. There is no limit on the length of news reports, live television broadcasts can be arranged, synchronized audio can be broadcast, and the number of accompanying reporters is not limited for the general secretary.[22] The general secretary can take a special plane when visiting foreign countries, and reports on foreign visits can be accompanied by side notes, features, and summaries, with no limit on the number of words.[23][24]
| Leader | Term | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Start | End | Tenure | Central Committee |
 | Chen Duxiu 陈独秀 (1879–1942) | 23 July 1921 | 7 August 1927[a] | 6 years and 15 days | 1st (1921–1922) 2nd (1922–1923) 3rd (1923–1925) 4th (1925–1927) 5th (1927–1928) |
 | de facto Qu Qiubai 瞿秋白 (1899–1935) | 7 August 1927 | 19 July 1928 | 347 days | 5th (1927–1928) |
 | Xiang Zhongfa 向忠发 (1879–1931) | 1 July 1928 | 24 June 1931[b] | 2 years and 358 days | 6th (1928–1945) |
 | Acting Wang Ming 王明 (1904–1974) | 24 June 1931 | 15 September 1931 | 83 days | 6th (1928–1945) |
 | Bo Gu 博古 (1907–1946) | September 1931[c] | 17 January 1935 | 3 years, 4 months | 6th (1928–1945) |
 | Zhang Wentian 张闻天 (1900–1976) | 17 January 1935 | 20 March 1943 | 8 years and 62 days | 6th (1928–1945) |
| Leader | Term | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Start | End | Tenure | Central Committee |
.jpg) | Hu Yaobang 胡耀邦 (1915–1989) | 12 September 1982 | 15 January 1987 | 4 years and 125 days | 12th (1982–1987) |
.jpg) | Zhao Ziyang 赵紫阳 (1919–2005) | 15 January 1987 | 24 June 1989 | 2 years and 159 days | 12th (1982–1987) 13th (1987–1992) |
 | Jiang Zemin 江泽民 (1926–2022) | 24 June 1989 | 15 November 2002 | 13 years and 144 days | 13th (1987–1992) 14th (1992–1997) 15th (1997–2002) |
 | Hu Jintao 胡锦涛 (born 1942) | 15 November 2002 | 15 November 2012 | 10 years | 16th (2002–2007) 17th (2007–2012) |
| Xi Jinping 习近平 (born 1953) | 15 November 2012 | Incumbent | 13 years and 88 days | 18th (2012–2017) 19th (2017–2022) 20th (2022–2027) |
9时40分，党和国家领导人胡耀邦 (CCP General SecretaryHu Yaobang)、邓小平 (CMC ChairmanDeng Xiaoping)、赵紫阳 (PremierZhao Ziyang)、李先念 (PresidentLi Xiannian)、陈云 (Discipline Inspection ChiefChen Yun)、彭真、邓颖超、徐向前、聂荣臻、乌兰夫等，偕同全国各界人民代表和各国来宾，在雷鸣般的掌声中登上天安门城楼。
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{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)In China, the political job that matters most is the general secretary of the Communist Party. The party controls the military and domestic security forces, and sets the policies that the government carries out. China's presidency lacks the authority of the American and French presidencies.
Mr. Xi's most important title is general secretary, the most powerful position in the Communist Party. In China's one-party system, this ranking gives him virtually unchecked authority over the government.
