| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party | |
|---|---|
| 中国共产党中央委员会总书记 | |
 | |
 | |
.jpg) | |
| Style |
|
| Type | |
| Status | National-level official (highest ranking official) |
| Member of | Politburo Standing Committee |
| Reports to | Central Committee |
| Residence | Qinzheng Hall,Zhongnanhai[citation needed] |
| Seat | Beijing |
| Nominator | Central Committee |
| Appointer | Central Committee |
| Term length | Five years, renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Party Constitution |
| Precursor | Chairman (1943–1976) |
| Inaugural holder | Chen Duxiu |
| Formation | 23 July 1921; 104 years ago (1921-07-23) |
| 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 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Commonly abbreviated as | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中共中央总书记 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中共中央總書記 | ||||||
| |||||||
Thegeneral secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (Chinese:中国共产党中央委员会总书记;pinyin:Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is theleader of theChinese Communist Party (CCP), thesole ruling party of thePeople's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been theparamount leader of the PRC.
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. Since 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 theCentral Committee. The general secretary serves as anex officio member of thePolitburo Standing Committee (PSC), China'sde facto top decision-making body. The general secretary is also the head of theSecretariat, and sets the agenda of Central Committee,Politburo and PSC meetings. 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.[2]
The incumbent general secretary isXi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012 and was re-elected twice on 25 October 2017 and 23 October 2022.[citation needed]
Chen Duxiu, one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party, served as Secretary of the Central Bureau from 1921 to 1922, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee from 1922 to 1925, and became the first general secretary of the Central Committee in 1925. 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.[3]
The post was re-established by the12th Central Committee in 1982, replacing the post of Chairman of the Central Committee. 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.[4] Since the mid-1990s, starting withJiang Zemin, the general secretary has traditionally also held the post ofpresident of China.[4] 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.[4]
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.[5] In practice, thede facto method of selecting the general secretary has varied over time.[5] The two most recent general secretaries,Hu Jintao andXi Jinping, 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 aParty Congress. The first secretary would later succeed the retiring general secretary as part of a generational leadership transition at the subsequent party congress.[citation needed]
The powers and roles of the general secretary are vaguely defined, with no term limits or written rules for selecting a successor.[4] However, as China is aone-party state, the general secretary holds ultimate power and authority over state and government,[6] and is usually considered the "paramount leader" of China.[7] The general secretary has been thehighest-ranking official in China'spolitical system since 1982.[note 2]
According to theConstitution of the Chinese Communist Party, the general secretary serves as anex officio member of the Politburo Standing Committee.[8] According to regulations of the CCP, 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]
According to Hong Kong media reports, according to 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.[12] 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.[13][14]
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.
| Communist Party | .svg) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central government | |||||||||||
| United front | |||||||||||
| Politics of province-level divisions (current leaders) |
| ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
_cap_insignia.svg)
.png)
