Topic summary
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The general secretary leads the CCP Central Committee. Since 1989, the general secretary has been the country's paramount leader. The general secretary has also been the political chief position of China (above the president and premier) since 1982.
The position of the general secretary of the Central Committee was established at the 4th Party National Congress in 1925, when Chen Duxiu, one of the founders of the CCP, was elected as the first general secretary. After the 7th Party National Congress in 1945, the position was replaced by the chairman of the Central Committee, which was held by Mao Zedong until his death in 1976. The post was re-established at the 12th Party National Congress in 1982 and replaced the CCP chairman as the highest leadership position of the CCP; Hu Yaobang was the first general secretary. Although the general secretary was the highest office in the CCP, it only became the most powerful post after Deng Xiaoping's retirement in 1989. Since Jiang Zemin's leadership in the 1990s, the holder of the post has been, except for transitional periods, the president of China, making the holder the state representative, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the supreme commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
According to the CCP constitution, the general secretary is elected during a plenary session of the Central Committee. The term of the office is the same of that as the Central Committee, which is five years, and there is no limit to the number of consecutive terms. The general secretary serves as an ex officio member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's top decision-making body. The general secretary is also the head of the Secretariat, and sets the agenda of Central Committee, Politburo and PSC meetings. Additionally, the general secretary sets the agenda of the decision-making and coordinating bodies of the CCP Central Committee. At the National Congress, the general secretary delivers the political report. Although the CCP constitution is 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, the state, law, diplomacy, and ideology in China. As the leader of the world's largest economy by GDP purchasing power parity (PPP), the second largest economy by GDP nominal, the largest military in the world by personnel, a recognized nuclear weapons state, UN Security Council permanent member, and a superpower, the general secretary is considered to be one of the world's most powerful political figures.
The incumbent general secretary of the CCP Central Committee is Xi Jinping, who was elected at the first plenary session of the 18th 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 the first plenary session of the 20th CCP Central Committee on 23 October 2022.