Paramount leader

Not to be confused with Supreme Leader (disambiguation).

Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China
National Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Flag of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent Xi Jinping since 15 November 2012
Style	Comrade
Type	General Secretary
Status	Leader of Party and State
Reports to	Central Committee
Residence	Zhongnanhai
Seat	Beijing
Appointer	Communist Party of China
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	State Constitution and Party Constitution
Inaugural holder	Mao Zedong
Formation	1 October 1949

Paramount leader
Simplified Chinese	最高领导人
Traditional Chinese	最高領導人
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zuìgāo lǐngdǎorén

In modern Chinese politics, the paramount leader (Chinese: 最高领导人) of the Communist Party of China and the State is an informal term that refers to the most prominent political leader in the People's Republic of China.

The "paramount leader" is not a formal position nor an office unto itself. The term gained prominence during the era of Deng Xiaoping (1978–1992), who was able to wield power without necessarily holding any official or formally significant party or government positions (head of state, head of government or General Secretary).

The term has been used less frequently to describe Deng's successors, who have all formally held both the offices of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China, and are therefore usually referred to as "President" in the international scene, the title used by most other republican heads of state, even though the party position of General Secretary is generally regarded by scholars as the post whose holder can be considered "paramount leader", and the President is a largely ceremonial office according to the Constitution. Hence Xi Jinping is considered to have become "paramount leader" in November 2012 upon his becoming General Secretary, rather than in March 2013 when he succeeded Hu Jintao as President.

History

Chairman Mao Zedong was the undisputed ruler of Communist China beginning in 1949. At one point Mao held three "Chairman" offices: Chairman of the Communist Party of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission and Chairman of the People's Republic of China (1954–1959), making him the leader of the party, military and state respectively.

Following the Cultural Revolution, a rough consensus emerged within the party that the worst excesses were caused by the lack of checks and balances in the exercise of political power and the resulting "rule of personality" by Mao. Beginning in the 1980s, the leadership experimented with a quasi-"separation of powers", whereby the offices of General Secretary, President, and Premier were held by different people. For example, in 1985, the General Secretary was Hu Yaobang, the President was Li Xiannian, and the Premier was Zhao Ziyang. However, Deng Xiaoping was still recognized as the "core" of the leadership during this period. Both Hu and Zhao fell out of favour in the late 1980s, but Deng was able to retain ultimate political control.

The term "paramount leader" has been applied to Deng's successors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, though it is generally recognized that they did not wield as much power as Deng, despite their having held more offices of leadership. There has also been a greater emphasis on "collective leadership", whereby the top leader is a "first among equals" style figure, exercising power with the consensus of the Politburo Standing Committee. This was particularly apparent during the tenure of Hu Jintao.

Beginning in 1993, Jiang formally held the three offices that made him the head of the Party, state and military:

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China

The leader of the Party and the highest ranking position (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; pinyin: Zhōngguó gòngchǎndǎng zhōngyāng wěiyuánhuì zǒngshūjì)

President of the People's Republic of China

The largely ceremonial head of state under 1982 Constitution. (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国主席; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國主席; pinyin: Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó zhǔxí)

Chairman of the Central Military Commission

Commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army (simplified Chinese: 中央军事委员会主席; traditional Chinese: 中央軍事委員會主席; pinyin: Zhōngyāng jūnshì wěiyuánhuì zhǔxí)

When Jiang left the offices of General Secretary and President in 2002 and 2003, respectively, he held onto the position of Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Military power had always been an important facet in the exercise of political power in Communist-ruled China, and as such holding the top military post meant that Jiang retained some formal power. Thus between 2002 and 2004, when Jiang finally stepped down from his last formal post, it was ambiguous who the "paramount leader" was at the time.

Hu Jintao held the same 'trio' of positions during his years in power. Hu transitioned all three positions onto his successor, Xi Jinping, between November 2012, when Xi became General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and March 2013, when Xi became President.

Since Xi Jinping's ascendance to power, two new bodies, the National Security Commission and Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, have been established, ostensibly concentrating political power in the "paramount leader" to a greater degree than anyone since Deng. These bodies were tasked with establishing the general policy direction for national security as well as the agenda for economic reform. Both groups are headed by General Secretary.

List of leaders

To date, "paramount leader" has been applied to six individual Chinese leaders (dates approximate):

Generations of leadership

      First administration       Second administration       Third administration       Hu–Wen Administration       Xi–Li Administration

• Bold refers to the highest position in the Communist Party of China

Picture	Name	Offices held	Period		Ideology
	Mao Zedong 毛泽东 (1893–1976) Beijing At-large (49–76)	Chairman of the CPC Central Politburo	20 March 1943 – 28 September 1956	1 October 1949 ↓ 9 September 1976 ()	Mao Zedong Thought
		Chairman of the CPC Central Secretariat
		Chairman of the CPC Central Committee	19 June 1945 – 9 September 1976
		Chairman of the PRC Central People's Government	1 October 1949 – 27 September 1954
		Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee	9 October 1949 – 25 December 1954
		Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission	8 September 1954 – 9 September 1976
		Chairman of the PRC	27 September 1954 – 27 April 1959
	Hua Guofeng 华国锋 (1921–2008) Hunan At-large (64–78) Beijing At-large (78–83) 100x100px	Premier of the PRC State Council	4 February 1976 – 10 September 1980	9 September 1976 ↓ 22 December 1978 ()	Two Whatevers (Mao Zedong Thought)
		1st Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Committee	7 April 1976 – 7 October 1976
		Chairman of the CPC Central Committee	9 September 1976 – 22 December 1978
		Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission	6 October 1976 – 28 June 1981
	Deng Xiaoping 邓小平 (1904–1997) Beijing At-large (59–64,78–83) PLA At-large (83–97) 100x100px	1st Vice Premier of the PRC State Council	17 January 1975 – 18 June 1983	22 December 1978 ↓ 12 October 1992 ()	Deng Xiaoping Theory (Socialism with Chinese characteristics)
		Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee	8 March 1978 – 17 June 1983
		Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission	28 June 1981 – 9 November 1989
		Chairman of the CPC Central Advisory Commission	13 September 1982 – 2 November 1987
		Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission	6 June 1983 – 19 March 1990
	Jiang Zemin 江泽民 (1926–) Shanghai At-large (88–08) 100x100px	General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee	24 June 1989 – 25 November 2002	12 October 1992 ↓ 15 November 2002 ()	Three Represents
		Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission	9 November 1989 – 19 September 2004
		Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission	19 March 1990 – 13 March 2005
		President of the PRC	27 March 1993 – 15 March 2003
	Hu Jintao 胡锦涛 (1942–) Guizhou At-large (88–93,98–03) Tibet At-large (93–98,03–08) Jiangsu At-large (08–13) 100x100px	General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee	15 November 2002 – 15 November 2012	15 November 2002 ↓ 15 November 2012 ()	Scientific Outlook on Development (Socialist Harmonious Society)
		President of the PRC	15 March 2003 – 14 March 2013
		Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission	19 September 2004 – 15 November 2012
		Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission	13 March 2005 – 14 March 2013
	Xi Jinping 习近平 (1953–) Fujian At-large (98–03) Zhejiang At-large (03–08) Shanghai At-large (08–present) 100x100px	General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee	15 November 2012 – Incumbent	15 November 2012 ↓ Incumbent ()	The Chinese Dream (Four Comprehensives)
		Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission
		President of the PRC	14 March 2013 – Incumbent
		Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission
		Leader of the CPC Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms	30 December 2013 – Incumbent
		Chairman of the CPC National Security Commission	25 January 2014 – Incumbent

See also

• List of leaders of the Communist Party of China
  • Chairman of the Communist Party of China
  • General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
• Chairman of the Central Military Commission
• Generations of Chinese leadership
• Orders of precedence in the People's Republic of China
• List of Chinese leaders
• Supreme Leader (disambiguation)
• Maximum Leader