The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang. In 1949, Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Successive leaders of the CCP have added their own theories to the party's constitution, which outlines the party's ideology, collectively referred to as socialism with Chinese characteristics. As of 2023, the CCP has more than 98 million members, making it the second largest political party by membership in the world after India's Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, officially as the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest political body of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is the second-highest ranking person in China's political system, under the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party /president, and holds the highest rank in the civil service of the central government.
The Central Military Commission (CMC) is the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China, which heads the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP), and the Militia of China.
The orders of precedence in China is the ranking of political leaders in China for the purposes of event protocol and to arrange the ordering of names in official news bulletins, both written and televised. It is also sometimes used to assess perceived level of political power. Although there is no formally published ranking, there is usually an established convention and protocol, and the relative positions of Chinese political figures can usually be deduced from the order in meetings and especially by the time and order in which figures are covered by the official media. Since 1982, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party has been the highest-ranking official in the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Zeng Qinghong is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, China's highest leadership council, and First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee between 2002 and 2007. He also served as the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2008. During the 1990s, Zeng was a close ally of then-Party general secretary Jiang Zemin, and was instrumental in consolidating Jiang's power. For years, Zeng was the primary force behind the party's organization and personnel.
The Secretariat, officially the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a body serving the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Politburo and Standing Committee. The secretariat is mainly responsible for carrying out routine operations of the Politburo and coordinating organizations and stakeholders to achieve tasks set out by the Politburo. It is empowered by the Politburo to make routine day-to-day decisions on issues of concern in accordance with the decisions of the Politburo, but it must consult the Politburo on substantive matters.
Paramount leader is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often holding the titles of CCP General Secretary and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC). The state representative (president) or head of government (premier) are not necessarily paramount leader—under China's party-state system, CCP roles are politically more important than state titles.
The Shanghai clique, also referred to as the Shanghai gang, Jiang clique, or Jiang faction, refers to an informal group of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who rose to prominence under former CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin while he served as the party chief and mayor of Shanghai.
The Central Committee, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest organ when the national congress is not in session and is tasked with carrying out congress resolutions, directing all party work, and representing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) externally. It is currently composed of 205 full members and 171 alternate members. Members are nominally elected once every five years by the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. In practice, the selection process is done privately, usually through consultation of the CCP's Politburo and its corresponding Standing Committee.
The Ministry of State Security is the principal civilian intelligence, security and secret police agency of the People's Republic of China, responsible for foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, and the political security of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). One of the largest and most secretive intelligence organizations in the world, it is headquartered in the Haidian District of Beijing, with powerful semi-autonomous branches at the provincial, city, municipality and township levels throughout China.
The 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held in Beijing, China, at the Great Hall of the People from 15 to 21 October 2007. Congress marked a significant shift in the political direction of the country as CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao solidified his position of leadership. Hu's signature policy doctrine, the Scientific Development Concept, which aimed to create a "Socialist Harmonious Society" through egalitarian wealth distribution and concern for the country's less well-off, was enshrined into the Party Constitution. It was succeeded by the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLC), commonly referred to as Zhongyang Zhengfawei in Chinese, is the organization under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responsible for "political and legal affairs". Based on the principles of Leninism and democratic centralism, the organization acts as the overseer and coordinator of all legal enforcement authorities, including the Ministries of State Security, Public Security and Justice, as well as the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate. All provincial, municipal, county and autonomous region CCP committees have their own political and legal affairs commissions.
The succession of power in China since 1949 takes place in the context of a one-party state under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Despite the guarantee of universal franchise in the constitution, the appointment of the Paramount leader lies largely in the hands of his predecessor and the powerful factions that control the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
The organization of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is based upon the Leninist concept of democratic centralism.
Chen Yixin is a Chinese politician who is the current Minister of State Security.
The President of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the President of China, is the state representative of the People's Republic of China, which on its own is a ceremonial office and has no real power in China's political system. However, since 1993, the post has been held by the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission, who is China's de facto leader.
Chen Wenqing is a Chinese intelligence officer, politician and member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party who currently serves as the secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission. He previously led the Ministry of State Security.
Chief superintendent is the highest police rank in the Chinese People's Police. The Premier of the State Council confers the rank on individuals appointed at the ministerial level. Unlike the rank of the same name in countries with a British police structure, which is typically given to leaders of divisions or regions, in China the rank is largely ceremonial, given to high political officials who have been appointed Minister of Public Security, Minister of State Security, or occasionally other senior national security-related positions.
The minister of public security is a member of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the head of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The position reports directly to the head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (CPLC) of the Chinese Communist Party. Within the State Council, the position is eight in order of precedence.
