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Leader of the Chinese Communist Party

Chinese unique ruling party top official

Field	Value
title	Leader of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
order	st
s	中共中央主要负责人
t	中共中央主要負責人
l	CPC Central Committee primary responsible person
p	Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Zhǔyào Fùzérén

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 General Secretary of the Central Committee is considered the party's leader. 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 CCP Central Committee or the Politburo. There were several name changes until Mao Zedong finally formalized the office of Chairman of the Central Committee in 1945. 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, who was elected at the 4th Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Currently, to be nominated for the office of general secretary, one has to be a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, the top decision body.

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 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. Mao was reckoned as the CCP's actual leader from the Long March onward before formally becoming Chairman in 1943.

Beginning in the 1980s, the CCP leadership desired to prevent a single leader from rising above the party, as Chairman Mao had done. Accordingly, the post of CCP Chairman was abolished in 1982. Most of its functions were transferred to the revived post of General Secretary. Deng Xiaoping is the last and only CCP official to become de facto leader of the CCP and paramount leader of China despite having never served as chairman or general secretary. His highest post was Chairman of the Central Military Commission (commander-in-chief).

Terminology

The CCP constitution refers to "leaders" of the party generally, but does not specify a particular office holder as the highest ranking official of the party. Under the current party constitution, the General Secretary exercises leadership and authority over the party by nature of their duty to convene meetings of the politburo and its standing committee and their duty to preside over the work of the party's secretariat.

In recent years, western media's reference to the Leader of the CCP generally means the General Secretary, highest ranking party official exercising formal authority over political affairs of the party and by extension over the political affairs of the Chinese state. Since the early 1990s, a single person has occupied (or been designated to later occupy) the top party office and the top state office. However at various times prior, different persons occupied those offices, and a third person holding neither of those offices may have been widely recognized as the leader with ultimate convening and decision-making power.

Referring to the person with ultimate political authority in China as top leader of the People's Republic of China (or paramount leader in some translation) became routine during the era of Deng Xiaoping (1978–1989), when he unquestionably wielded political power without holding any of the top state, government or party positions at any given time. In recent years the term **CPC Central Committee primary responsible person ** has emerged as the state media's term of art when referring to the role of the party leader.

Leader offices

Title	Existence	Established	Officeholder(s)
Secretary of the Central Bureau	1921–1922	[1st National Congress](1st-national-congress-of-the-chinese-communist-party)	Chen Duxiu (1921–27)
Qu Qiubai (de facto 1927–28)
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee	1922–1925	[2nd National Congress](2nd-national-congress-of-the-chinese-communist-party)
General Secretary of the Central Committee	1925–1928	[4th National Congress](4th-national-congress-of-the-chinese-communist-party)
Chairman of the Politburo & Poliburo Standing Committee
(continued to be referred to as the General Secretary* in practice)*	1928–1931	[6th National Congress](6th-national-congress-of-the-chinese-communist-party)	Xiang Zhongfa (1928–30)
Qu Qiubai (de facto 1930–31)
General Secretary of the Central Committee	1931–1943	[6th Central Committee](6th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party)
(5th Plenary Session)	Wang Ming (acting 1931)
Bo Gu (acting 1931–34, formal 1934–35)
Zhang Wentian (1935–45)
Chairman of the Central Politburo	1943–1945	Politburo resolution	Mao Zedong
Chairman of the Central Committee	1945–1982	[7th National Congress](7th-national-congress-of-the-chinese-communist-party)	Mao Zedong (1945–76)
Hua Guofeng (1976–81)
Hu Yaobang (1981–82)
General Secretary of the Central Committee	1982–present	[12th National Congress](12th-national-congress-of-the-chinese-communist-party)	Hu Yaobang (1982–87)
Zhao Ziyang (1987–89)
Jiang Zemin (1989–2002)
Hu Jintao (2002–12)
Xi Jinping (2012–present)

Leaders

Leader	Term	Key offices held while leader
(top party post in bold)	No.	Portrait	Name
(birth–death)	Start	End	Tenure	Central Committee
1	[[File:Chen Duxiu.jpg	90px]]	Chen Duxiu
陈独秀
(1879–1942)	23 July 1921	7 August 1927		[1st](1st-central-bureau-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1921–22)
[2nd](2nd-central-executive-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1922–23)
[3rd](3rd-central-executive-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1923–25)
[4th](4th-central-executive-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1925–27)
[5th](5th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1927–28)	Secretary of the Central Bureau (1921–22)
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (1922–25)
General Secretary of the Central Committee (1925–27)
	[[File:Qu Qiubai.JPG	90px]]	*de facto*
Qu Qiubai
瞿秋白
(1899–1935)	7 August 1927	19 July 1928		[5th](5th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1927–28)	(Convening) Member of the Provisional Politburo Standing Committee
2	[[File:Xiang Chongfai.jpg	90px]]	Xiang Zhongfa
向忠发
(1879–1931)	1 July 1928	24 June 1931		[6th](6th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1928–45)	**Chairman, Central Politburo
Chairman of the Central Politburo Standing Committee**
Leader in name only, formal authorities exercised by others at various times.
	[[File:陈绍禹标志像.png	90px]]	*Acting*
Wang Ming
王明
(1904–1974)	24 June 1931	15 September 1931		[6th](6th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1928–45)	(Convening) **Member of the Politburo Standing Committee
Head of the Chinese delegation to the Communist International**
De facto leader as early as January 1931
3	[[File:Chin Banxian.jpg	90px]]	Bo Gu
博古
(1907–1946)	September 1931	17 January 1935		[6th](6th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1928–45)	Acting as the leading Member of the Politburo Standing Committee (1931–34)
General Secretary of the Central Committee (1934–35)
4	[[File:Zhang Wentian3.jpg	90px]]	Zhang Wentian
张闻天
(1900–1976)	17 January 1935	20 March 1943		[6th](6th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1928–45)	General Secretary of the Central Committee
As of September 1938 (6th Plenary) all political authority shifted to Mao and Zhang remained Leader in name only. In March 1943 the office of Chairman of the Central Politburo formally replaced General Secretary as the office of the party leader.
5	[[File:Mao Tse Tung.jpg	90px]]	Mao Zedong
毛泽东
(1893–1976)	20 March 1943	9 September 1976		[6th](6th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1928–45)
[7th](7th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1945–56)
[8th](8th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1956–69)
[9th](9th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1969–73)
[10th](10th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1973–77)	**Chairman, Central Politburo
Chairman, Central Committee**
Chairman, Central Military Commission
President, Central Party School
Chairman, People's Republic of China
Chairman, CPPCC National Committee
Chairman, Central People's Revolutionary Military Commission
Honorary Chairman, CPPCC National Committee
President and Chairman, National Defence Council
6	[[File:Hua Guofeng.jpg	90px]]	Hua Guofeng
华国锋
(1921–2008)	7 October 1976	28 June 1981		[11th](11th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1977–82)	Chairman, Central Committee
Premier, State Council
Chairman, Central Military Commission
President, Central Party School
7	[[File:Hu Yaobang (cropped).jpg	90px]]	Hu Yaobang
胡耀邦
(1915–1989)	29 June 1981	15 January 1987		[11th](11th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1977–82)
[12th](12th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1982–87)	Chairman, Central Committee (1981–82)
Secretary General, Central Secretariat (1982–87)
8	[[File:Bezoek Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang , met premier Lubbers tijdens regeringsdiner, Bestanddeelnr 933-3563 (cropped).jpg	90px]]	Zhao Ziyang
赵紫阳
(1919–2005)	15 January 1987	24 June 1989		[12th](12th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1982–87)
[13th](13th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1987–92)	General Secretary of the Central Committee
Chairman, Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs
Vice Chairman, Central Military Commission
9	[[File:Jiang Zemin 2002.jpg	90px]]	Jiang Zemin
江泽民
(1926–2022)	24 June 1989	15 November 2002		[13th](14th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1987–92)
[14th](14th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1992–97)
[15th](15th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (1997–2002)	General Secretary of the Central Committee
Chairman, Central Military Commission
President of the People's Republic of China
Leader, Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs
Leader, Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs
Leader, Central Foreign Affairs Leading
10	[[File:Hu Jintao 2012.jpg	90px]]	Hu Jintao
胡锦涛
(born 1942)	15 November 2002	15 November 2012	years	[16th](16th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (2002–07)
[17th](17th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (2007–12)	General Secretary of the Central Committee
President of the People's Republic of China
Chairman, Central Military Commission
Leader, Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs
Leader, Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs
Leader, Central Foreign Affairs Leading Group
11	[[File:Xi Jinping (June 2025) (cropped).jpg	90px]]	Xi Jinping
习近平
(born 1953)	15 November 2012	Incumbent		[18th](18th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (2012–17)
[19th](19th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (2017–22)
[20th](20th-central-committee-of-the-chinese-communist-party) (2022–27)	General Secretary of the Central Committee
Chairman, Central Military Commission
President of the People's Republic of China
Leader, Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs
Director, Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission
Director, Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission
Chairman, National Security Commission
Director, Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission	Leader, Central Leading Group for Military Reform

Timeline

ImageSize = width:950 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:100 left:20 AlignBars = late

Define $today =

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1920 till:$today TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1920 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1920

BarData = bar:1 bar:2 bar:3 bar:4 bar:5 bar:6 bar:7 bar:8 bar:9 bar:10 bar:11

PlotData = width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:1 from: 23/07/1921 till: 01/07/1928 color:red text:"Chen Duxiu" fontsize:10 bar:2 from: 01/07/1928 till: 24/06/1931 color:red text:"Xiang Zhongfa" fontsize:10 bar:3 from: 01/09/1931 till: 17/01/1935 color:red text:"Bo Gu" fontsize:10 bar:4 from: 17/01/1935 till: 20/03/1943 color:red text:"Zhang Wentian" fontsize:10 bar:5 from: 20/03/1943 till: 09/09/1976 color:red text:"Mao Zedong" fontsize:10 bar:6 from: 07/10/1976 till: 28/06/1981 color:red text:"Hua Guofeng" fontsize:10 bar:7 from: 29/06/1981 till: 15/01/1987 color:red text:"Hu Yaobang" fontsize:10 bar:8 from: 15/01/1987 till: 24/06/1989 color:red text:"Zhao Ziyang" fontsize:10 bar:9 from: 24/06/1989 till: 15/11/2002 color:red text:"Jiang Zemin" fontsize:10 bar:10 from: 15/11/2002 till: 15/11/2012 color:red text:"Hu Jintao" fontsize:10 bar:11 from: 15/11/2012 till: $today color:red text:"Xi Jinping" fontsize:10

Notes

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

References

19th National Congress. (2017). "[[Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party]]".
"China - Constitution, Government, Politics".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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