Politburo of the Communist Party of China

The Central Politburo of the Communist Party of China, formally known as the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and known as Central Bureau before 1927, is a group of 25 people who oversee the Communist Party of China. Unlike politburos (political bureaus) of other Communist parties, power within the politburo is centralized in the Politburo Standing Committee, a smaller group of Politburo members.

Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee 中国共产党中央政治局
Leadership
Status	Executive CPC body between the Standing Committee and Central Committee, Communist Party of China
Leader of the Party	Xi Jinping, General Secretary
1st-ranked member	Xi Jinping
Elected by	the Central Committee
Responsible to	the Central Committee
Seats	25
Meeting place
Huairen Hall, Zhongnanhai Beijing, China[1]

Politburo of the Communist Party of China
Simplified Chinese	中国共产党中央政治局
Traditional Chinese	中國共產黨中央政治局
Literal meaning	China Communist Party Central Political Bureau
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Zhèngzhìjú
Politburo
Chinese	政治局
Literal meaning	Political Bureau
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhèngzhìjú

The Politburo is nominally elected by the Central Committee. In practice, however, scholars of Chinese elite politics believe that the Politburo is a self-perpetuating body, with new members of both the Politburo and its Standing Committee chosen through a series of deliberations by current Politburo members and retired Politburo Standing Committee members. The current and former Politburo members conduct a series of informal straw polls to determine the group's level of support for each new candidate's membership in the Politburo. The process for selecting the new Politburo begins with a closed door meeting by the incumbent Politburo Standing Committee in Beidaihe in the summer before the Party Congress convenes.[2][3]

The power of the Politburo resides largely in the fact that its members generally simultaneously hold positions within the People's Republic of China state positions and with the control over personnel appointments that the Politburo and Secretariat have. In addition, some Politburo members hold powerful regional positions. How the Politburo works internally is unclear, but it appears that the full Politburo meets once a month and the standing committee meets weekly. This is believed to be much more infrequent than the former Soviet Politburo had met. The agenda for the meetings appears to be controlled by the General Secretary and decisions are made by consensus rather than by majority vote.[4]

The Politburo was eclipsed by the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in the early 1980s under Hu Yaobang,[5] but has re-emerged as a dominant force after Hu's ousting in 1987.

Current Politburo

Main article: 19th Politburo of the Communist Party of China

The 19th Politburo was elected at the first plenary session of the 19th Central Committee in October 2017.

Hanzi	Name	Year of birth	K	Office(s)
习近平	Xi Jinping	1953	—	General Secretary of the Communist Party of China President of the People's Republic of China Chairman of the Central Military Commission
李克强	Li Keqiang	1955	—	Premier of the State Council
栗战书	Li Zhanshu	1950	—	Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee
汪洋	Wang Yang	1955	—	Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
王沪宁	Wang Huning	1955	—	Secretary of the Central Secretariat (first-ranked)
赵乐际	Zhao Leji	1957	—	Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
韩正	Han Zheng	1954	—	Vice Premier of the State Council (first-ranked)
丁薛祥	Ding Xuexiang	1962	—	Director of the General Office
王晨	Wang Chen	1950	—	Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
刘鹤	Liu He	1952	—	Vice Premier of the State Council
许其亮	Xu Qiliang	1950	§	Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission
孙春兰	Sun Chunlan	1950	♀	Vice Premier of the State Council
李希	Li Xi	1956	—	Party Secretary of Guangdong
李强	Li Qiang	1959	—	Party Secretary of Shanghai
李鸿忠	Li Hongzhong	1956	—	Party Secretary of Tianjin
胡春华	Hu Chunhua	1963	—	Vice Premier of the State Council
杨洁篪	Yang Jiechi	1950	—	Director of the Office of Foreign Affairs
杨晓渡	Yang Xiaodu	1953	—	Director of the National Supervisory Commission
张又侠	Zhang Youxia	1950	§	Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission
陈希	Chen Xi	1953	—	Head of the Organization Department
陈全国	Chen Quanguo	1955	—	Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
陈敏尔	Chen Min'er	1960	—	Party Secretary of Chongqing
郭声琨	Guo Shengkun	1954	—	Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission
黄坤明	Huang Kunming	1956	—	Head of the Propaganda Department
蔡奇	Cai Qi	1955	—	Party Secretary of Beijing

Keys

Abbreviations
IDUCC	Institutions Directly Under the Central Committee
K	Keys
CIM	Central institution membership, which in this instance means membership in the PSC, PB, ST and CMC
PSC	Standing Committee of the Political Bureau
PB	Political Bureau
ST	Secretariat
CMC	Central Military Commission
SC–CCDI	Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
CCDI	Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
CPPCC	Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
NL	National Leader
DNL	Deputy National Leader
PM	Provincial-Ministerial
SPM	Sub-provincial (vice-ministerial)
DE	Department-prefecture level
Adm.	Admiral
V-Adm.	Vice-Admiral
Gen.	General
Lt. Gen.	Lieutenant General
Maj. Gen.	Major General
Keys
♀	Indicates that the individual is female.
↑	Indicates that the individual was elevated from alternate to full member
♮	Indicates that the individual was expelled from the Communist Party after CCDI investigation.
₪	Indicates that the individual is currently under investigation by the CCDI.
∞	Indicates that the individual is retired from active political positions[note 1]
§	Indicates that the individual is military personnel.
↔	Indicates that the individual is military personnel and has retired from active military service.
Note	If two keys are used in the same column it indicates that the individual is both of something. For instance, "♀§" indicates that the individual is female (♀) and military personnel (§).

Notes

1. "Active" political positions refer to the offices of Governor and provincial-level Party Secretary; often, an individual is considered retired when they relinquish either of those offices due to age, and are assigned some kind of committee membership in the National People's Congress.

References

1. Wang, Jun (15 June 2013). "中央政治局如何开会". qikan.com. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
2. Li, Cheng (2016). Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 9780815726937. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
3. Kang Lim, Benjamin (20 November 2017). "Exclusive: China's backroom powerbrokers block reform candidates - sources". Reuters. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
4. Miller, H. "Hu Jintao and the Party Politburo" (PDF). China Leadership Monitor. Hoover Institution. p. 5. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
5. Li, Cheng et al. (2008). China's Changing Political Landscape, Washington: Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8157-5209-7.

External links

• "Hu Jintao and the Party Politburo", Winter 2004: Party Affairs, By Alice L. Miller, China Leadership Monitor No. 9
• www.nodulo.org Pictures of the members (Spanish)

See also

• 19th Politburo of the Communist Party of China
• Collective leadership
  • Surname stroke order
• Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
  • Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China
    • General Secretary
  • Central Secretariat
  • General Office
    • Central Security Bureau
      • Central Guard Unit