Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party

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.^{[citation needed]}

Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
中国共产党中央书记处

Information
General Secretary	Xi Jinping
First-ranked secretary	Cai Qi
Members	Cai Qi Shi Taifeng Li Ganjie Li Shulei Chen Wenqing Liu Jinguo Wang Xiaohong
Elected by	Central Committee
Responsible to	Politburo and its Standing Committee
Seats	7
Meeting place
Qinzheng Hall, Zhongnanhai Beijing, China[1]

Central Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party
Simplified Chinese	中国共产党中央书记处
Traditional Chinese	中國共產黨中央書記處
Literal meaning	China Communist Party Central Secretariat
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Shūjìchù
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	书记处
Literal meaning	Secretariat
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shūjìchù

The secretariat was established in January 1934. It is nominally headed by the CCP general secretary, though the position of head of the secretariat was not always the same as the top party leader.^{[citation needed]} Secretaries of the secretariat (Shujichu Shuji) are considered some of the most important political positions in the CCP and contemporary China, more generally. Each secretariat secretary is generally in charge of one of the major party departments directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Committee. By protocol, its members are ranked above the vice chairmen of the National People's Congress as well as State Councilors.^{[citation needed]} The general secretary presides over the secretariat's work.

History

The Secretariat of the Central Committee was formed on 15–18 January 1934 at the 5th Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee, which was held in Shanghai.^[2] On 20 March 1943, the Politburo, in a joint decision, decreed that the secretariat will be responsible for carrying out the work of the Politburo according to the general policy framework determined by the Politburo and that it is vested with the power to make decisions within this general framework.^[3]

A formal head of the secretariat for managing its affairs has existed several times. Ren Bishi was elected Secretary-General of the Chinese Communist Party by the 6th Poliburo in August 1941. It existed until a meeting of the 7th Politburo on 20 March 1943, which abolished the post and replaced it with the new office of Chairman of the Secretariat, with Mao Zedong being elected to the post.^[3] The 1st Plenary Session of the 7th Central Committee elected Ren Bishi as Secretary-General of the Central Committee and Li Fuchun as Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Committee on 11 June 1945.^[4] It is unclear who took over Ren Bishi's office upon his death on 27 October 1950.

On 27 April 1954, the 8th Politburo decided to establish the offices of Secretary-General of the Central Committee and Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Committee. Deng Xiaoping was elected as secretary-general and Li Fuchun, Yang Shangkun, Tan Zhenlin, Ma Mingfang, Song Renqiong, Liu Lantao, Lin Feng, Li Xuefeng and Hu Qiaomu as deputy secretaries-general.^[3] This institution was not called Secretariat, but rather the "Conference of the Secretary-General". The 8th National Congress in 1956 abolished it and formally replaced it with the Secretariat. The 1st Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee opted to re-elect Deng Xiaoping as secretary-general with no deputy on 28 September 1956.^[5]

In May 1966, the 8th Politburo convened to criticize the mistakes of leading cadres, including that of Deng Xiaoping. He was replaced, and the office of the secretary-general was abolished, and Tao Zhu was elected as Standing Secretary. It is unclear when this office stopped functioning, and the Secretariat more generally, but the 9th National Congress in 1969 decided to abolish these institutions.^[3]

The office was re-established in 1978 when Chen Yun, a member of the 11th Politburo Standing Committee, proposed to the 11th Politburo to re-establish both the Secretariat and the offices of secretary-general and deputy secretary-general. That politburo meeting re-established elected Hu Yaobang as secretary-general and Hu Qiaomu and Yao Yilin as deputy secretaries-general, but did not re-establish the Secretariat.^[3] This occurred at the 5th Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee on 23–29 February 1980, but this plenum also decided to abolish the offices of deputy secretary-general.^[6] The position was abolished alongside the office of Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party at the 12th National Congress in 1982, and replaced with the office of General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.^[7]

Functions

The Secretariat is the working body of the CCP Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee. The CCP General Secretary presides over the work of the Secretariat.^[8] The members of the Secretariat are nominated by the Politburo Standing Committee and approved during a plenary session of the CCP Central Committee. The secretaries of the Secretariat are tasked with coordinating the dissemination and implementation of Politburo and PSC decisions. They also assist in reviewing political reports, creating policy plans and help in personnel decisions.^[9]

First secretary

The first secretary is the de facto head of the Secretariat, who is responsible for the management of directives and day-to-day work of the Secretariat assisting the general secretary. A member of both the Politburo Standing Committee and the Secretariat, the officeholder is considered one of the most powerful figures in China's political system.^[10]

The two most recent general secretaries, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, were first elevated to the position of first secretary of the Secretariat in the same process used to determine the membership and roles of the Politburo Standing Committee.^[11]

First Secretaries of the CCP Central Committee's Secretariat

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Duration	Electoral term	BY	PM	Birthplace
General Secretary of the Central Committee's Secretariat
1		Deng Xiaoping	28 September 1956	23 August 1966	9 years and 329 days	8th CC (1956–1969)	1904	1924	Guang'an, Sichuan
Standing Secretary of the Central Committee's Secretariat
-		Tao Zhu	23 May 1966	4 January 1967	226 days	8th CC (1956–1969)	1908	1926	Qiyang, Hunan
General Secretary of the Central Committee's Secretariat
2		Hu Yaobang	29 February 1980	12 September 1982	2 years and 196 days	11th CC (1977–1982)	1915	1933	Liuyang, Hunan
First Secretary of the Central Committee's Secretariat
3	—	Hu Qili	24 September 1985	24 June 1989	3 years and 273 days	12th CC (1982–1987) 13th CC (1987–1992)	1929	1948	Yulin, Shaanxi
4	—	Qiao Shi	24 June 1989	19 October 1992	3 years and 117 days	13th CC (1987–1992)	1924	1940	Shanghai
5		Hu Jintao	19 October 1992	15 November 2002	10 years and 27 days	14th CC (1992–1997) 15th CC (1997–2002)	1942	1964	Taizhou, Jiangsu
6		Zeng Qinghong	15 November 2002	22 October 2007	4 years and 341 days	16th CC (2002–2007)	1939	1960	Ji'an, Jiangxi
7		Xi Jinping	22 October 2007	15 November 2012	5 years and 24 days	17th CC (2007–2012)	1953	1974	Beijing
8		Liu Yunshan	15 November 2012	25 October 2017	4 years and 344 days	18th CC (2012–2017)	1947	1971	Salaqi County, Suiyuan
9		Wang Huning[12]	25 October 2017	23 October 2022	4 years and 363 days	19th CC (2017–2022)	1955	1984	Shanghai
10		Cai Qi[13]	23 October 2022	Incumbent	2 years and 17 days	20th CC (2022– )	1955	1975	Youxi County, Fujian

See also

• General Office of the Chinese Communist Party
• Grand Secretariat (Imperial court of China)

References

1. Su, Weimin (30 May 2011). "十一屆三中全會后的中南海" [Zhongnanhai after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee]. People's Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
2. "中共第六届历次中央全会" [The Plenary Sessions of the 6th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China]. People's Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
3. Li, Lin (21 September 2012). "中国共产党第七届中央领导机构" [The Organizational History and Functional Changes of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee]. People's Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
4. "中国共产党第七届中央领导机构" [The 7th Central Leading Organisation of the Communist Party of China] (in Chinese). Communist Party Membership Network. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original on 9 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
5. "中国共产党第八届中央领导组织" [The 8th Central Leading Organisation of the Communist Party of China] (in Chinese). The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. 19 September 2008. Archived from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
6. "中国共产党十一届五中全会简介" [Introduction to the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China]. People's Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
7. "中共第十二届历次中央全会" [The Plenary Sessions of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China] (in Chinese). The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
8. 中共中央印发《中国共产党中央委员会工作条例》 [The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Regulations on Work of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China"]. State Council of the People's Republic of China (in Chinese). 12 October 2020. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
9. "Decoding Chinese Politics: Party Center". Asia Society. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
10. "Cai Qi Leads Propaganda Ministers Conference". China Media Project. 2023-01-05. Following the 20th National Congress of the CCP in October last year, Cai Qi, who previously served as Party Secretary of Beijing, succeeded Wang Huning (王沪宁) as the First Secretary of the CCP Secretariat in charge of propaganda and ideology.
11. "The big dance: A look back at the 17th Party Congress". China Briefing News. 2007-10-31. Xi, the son of liberal party elder and former vice-premier Xi Zhongxun will take over the post of first-ranked secretary of the CCP Secretariat and state vice-president.
12. "Politburo Standing Committee: Who are the men who rule China now?". BBC News. 2022-10-23. Current political ranking: First secretary of the Communist Party's Secretariat
13. "Chinese Government Leadership 20th Politburo Standing Committee". US-China Business Council. Cai Qi is first secretary of the CCP Central Committee Secretariat.

External links

• Official website