Leader of the Communist Party of China


The leader of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest ranking official and head of the Chinese Communist Party. Since 1982, the leader of the Communist Party of China 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, Chairman, and General Secretary.
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 finally formalised the office of Chairman of the Central Committee. Since 1982, the CPC National Congress and its 1st CC Plenary Session has been the main institutional setting in which the CPC leadership are elected. From 1992 onwards every party leader has been elected by a 1st CC Plenary Session. In the period 1928–45 the CPC 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 Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Currently, to be nominated for the office of General Secretary, one has to be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Despite breaching the party's constitution, several individuals have been de facto leaders of the CPC 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. Deng Xiaoping is the last CPC official to achieve this; he never served as Chairman or General Secretary, his highest post being Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Leader offices

Leaders

Citations