General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
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
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì
Commonly abbreviated as
Simplified Chinese	中共中央总书记
Traditional Chinese	中共中央總書記
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhōnggòng Zhōngyāng Zǒngshūjì

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
中国共产党中央委员会总书记
	Emblem of the Chinese Communist Party
	Flag of the Chinese Communist Party
	Incumbent; Xi Jinping; since 15 November 2012
	Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party; Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party;
Style	General Secretary (总书记); (informal); Comrade (同志); (formal);
Type	Party leader; Paramount leader;
Status	National-level official; (highest ranking official)
Member of	Politburo Standing Committee
Reports to	Central Committee
Residence	Qinzheng Hall, Zhongnanhai
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

The general 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 the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader of the PRC.

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 National Congress, the position was replaced by the Chairman of the Central Committee, which was held by Mao Zedong until his death. The post was re-established at the 12th 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, the president of China, making the holder the head of state, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the supreme commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).^{[note 1]}

According to the CCP constitution, the general secretary is elected during a plenary session of the Central Committee. The general secretary serves as an ex officio member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's de facto 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. 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 potential superpower, the general secretary is considered to be one of the world's most powerful political figures.^[3]

The incumbent general secretary is Xi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012 and was re-elected twice on 25 October 2017 and 23 October 2022. The last person to rule the country for more than two terms was Mao Zedong, who served as Chairman of the CCP Central Committee from 1943 until his death in 1976.

^ "文革后的中南海：中央办事效率最高的时期". LYWZC.com. Comsenz Inc. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018..
^ "Who's Who in China's New Communist Party Leadership Lineup". Bloomberg News. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
^ McGregor, Richard (21 August 2022). "Xi Jinping's Radical Secrecy". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.; Sheridan, Michael. "How Xi Jinping became the world's most powerful man". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2022.; O'Connor, Tom (3 February 2022). "Xi and Putin, two of world's most powerful men, to meet in China, US absent". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[lywzc-1] "文革后的中南海：中央办事效率最高的时期". LYWZC.com. Comsenz Inc. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018..

[2] "Who's Who in China's New Communist Party Leadership Lineup". Bloomberg News. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2019.

[4] McGregor, Richard (21 August 2022). "Xi Jinping's Radical Secrecy". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.; Sheridan, Michael. "How Xi Jinping became the world's most powerful man". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2022.; O'Connor, Tom (3 February 2022). "Xi and Putin, two of world's most powerful men, to meet in China, US absent". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.

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