Orders of precedence in the People's Republic of China

The political ranking of the People's Republic of China is the ranking of political leaders in China, by order of presumed 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 which figures are covered by the official media.

Depending on the person and the time period, the hierarchy will vary accordingly. Although Chinese political positions are becoming increasingly institutionalized, part of the power of Chinese leaders still derives from who they are, rather than what position they hold. The informal role as Party "Center" (currently the position of General Secretary) is an example of the continuing importance of non-institutionalized and informal practices of power.

Individuals can hold multiple top leadership titles but also be unable to claim to be the de facto ruler as was the case with Chairman Hua Guofeng, when "Paramount leader" Deng Xiaoping was present. The traditional ranking system was based upon the hierarchical line of the politburo standing committee; however, "special" cases do arise as it is the case with Jiang Zemin and the 4th Generation leaders. Jiang, although retired from the politburo and the central committee, was nonetheless ranked number two for being the all-powerful CMC chairman until his resignation on September 19, 2004.

Leaders of the Party and the State

By convention, persons holding positions of the Vice-Chairs of the NPC or above are referred to "Leaders of the Party and the State" (党和国家领导人) in the official media. A highly typical ranking is as follows:

Rank	Official Title	Current Occupant
1	General Secretary of the Communist Party of China	Hu Jintao
2	President of the People's Republic of China
3 / 4	Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC	Wu Bangguo
	Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China	Wen Jiabao
5	Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC	Jia Qinglin
6	Chairman of the Central Military Commission	Hu Jintao
7	Vice President of the People's Republic of China	Xi Jinping

Order of precedence

Official state media, when reporting news pieces, adhere to strict ranking protocol when the news involves multiple top leaders. As a result, the news overlooks the actual importance of the story attached to each leader, rather the news order is determined by political ranking alone. For example, if the Premier was on a relief visit to a region damaged by an earthquake, and the Chairman of the National People's Congress happened to be chairing a regular NPC meeting, the NPC chair would always have his news item placed before that of the Premier. The order of precedence is strictly adhered to when seating leaders at official meetings and functions. The current order of precedence is as follows (bolded members of first section are current members of the Politburo Standing Committee) :

Current Members of the Politburo Standing Committee

Order	Name	Image	Party position(s)	State position(s)
1	Hu Jintao		General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission	President of the People's Republic of China Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission
2	Wu Bangguo		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Party secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress	Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
3	Wen Jiabao		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China	Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
4	Jia Qinglin		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Party secretary of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference	Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
5	Li Changchun		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the CPC Central Guidance Commission for Building Spiritual Civilization	-
6	Xi Jinping		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Top-ranked Secretary of the Central Secretariat of the CPC Vice Chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission President of the Central Party School of the CPC	Vice President of the People's Republic of China Vice Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission
7	Li Keqiang		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Deputy Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China	Top-ranked Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
8	He Guoqiang		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection	-
9	Zhou Yongkang		Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Committee	-

Other Members of the CPC Politburo

• In order of surname strokes
• Xi Jinping, Top-ranked Secretary of CPC Secretariat, Vice-President
• Wang Gang, Vice-Chair of CPPCC
• Wang Lequan, Party chief of Xinjiang Autonomous Region
• Wang Zhaoguo, Vice-Chairman of National People's Congress
• Wang Qishan, Vice-Premier
• Hui Liangyu, Vice-Premier
• Liu Qi, Party chief of Beijing, head of Beijing Olympics organizing committee
• Liu Yunshan, Secretary in CPC Central Secretariat, Media and Communications minister
• Liu Yandong, First State Councilor
• Li Changchun, Propaganda chief
• Li Keqiang, First Vice-Premier
• Li Yuanchao, Secretary in CPC Central Secretariat, CPC Organization Department head
• Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
• Wang Yang, Party chief of Guangdong
• Zhang Gaoli, Party chief of Tianjin
• Zhang Dejiang, Vice-Premier
• Zhou Yongkang, Head of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee
• Hu Jintao, General Secretary, President, Central Military Commission Chairman
• Yu Zhengsheng, Party chief of Shanghai
• He Guoqiang, Head of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
• Jia Qinglin, head of the People's Political Consultative Conference
• Xu Caihou, Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission
• Guo Boxiong, Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission
• Wen Jiabao, Premier of the State Council
• Bo Xilai, Party chief of Chongqing

Former leaders from the Politburo Standing Committee or equivalent

in order of seniority at the time they were in office

Name	Image	Born year	Party-joining year	Former highest post(s)	Retirement year
Jiang Zemin		1926	1946	General Secretary of the Communist Party of China President of the People's Republic of China Chairman of the Central Military Commission	2005
Li Peng		1928	1945	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Premier of the People's Republic of China Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC	2003
Wan Li		1916	1936	Member of the CPC Politburo Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC	1993
Qiao Shi		1924	1940	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC	1998
Zhu Rongji		1928	1949	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Premier of the People's Republic of China	2003
Li Ruihuan		1934	1959	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC	2003
Song Ping		1917	1937	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee	1992
Wei Jianxing		1931	1949	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection	2002
Li Lanqing		1932	1952	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China	2003
Zeng Qinghong		1939	1960	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat Vice President of the People's Republic of China	2008
Wu Guanzheng		1938	1962	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection	2007
Luo Gan		1935	1960	Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Affairs Committee	2007

Members of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China

• Vice-Chairmen of the Central Military Commission
• Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee
  • He Yong
  • Ling Jihua
  • Wang Huning

• Vice-Chairmen of the National People's Congress (In following order)
  • Wang Zhaoguo (already mentioned)
  • Lu Yongxiang
  • Uyunqimg (Mongol)
  • Han Qide
  • Hua Jianmin
  • Chen Zhili
  • Zhou Tienong
  • Li Jianguo
  • Ismail Tiliwaldi (Uyghur)
  • Jiang Shusheng
  • Chen Changzhi
  • Yan Junqi
  • Sang Guowei

• State Councilors: Liu Yandong, Liang Guanglie, Ma Kai, Meng Jianzhu, Dai Bingguo (in order of rank)
• Chairman of the Supreme People's Court (Wang Shengjun)
• Chairman of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (Cao Jianming)
• Vice-chairpersons of the CPPCC (In following order)
  • Wang Gang
  • Liao Hui
  • Du Qinglin
  • Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme (Tibetan)
  • Pabra Grimlge (Tibetan)
  • Ma Man-kei
  • Bai Lizhen
  • Chen Kuiyuan
  • Abrati Abdruashti (Uygur)
  • Li Zhaochuo
  • Huang Mengfu
  • Tung Chee Hwa
  • Zhang Meiying
  • Zhang Rongming
  • Qian Yunlu
  • Sun Jiazheng
  • Li Jinhua
  • Zheng Wantong
  • Deng Pufang
  • Wan Gang
  • Li Wenyi
  • Luo Fuhe
  • Chen Zhongxing
  • Wang Zhizhen

• Members of the Central Military Commission
  • Liang Guanglie
  • Chen Bingde
  • Li Jinai
  • Liao Xilong
  • Chang Wanquan
  • Jing Zhiyuan
  • Wu Shengli
  • Xu Qiliang

• Heads of Ministries and Government agencies under the State Council (in following order)
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi
  • Minister of National Defense Liang Guanglie earlier on list
  • Chairman of the State Development and Reform Commission Zhang Ping
  • Minister of Education Zhou Ji
  • Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang earlier on list
  • State Ethnic Affairs Commission Yang Jing (Mongol)
  • Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu earlier on list
  • Ministry of State Security Geng Huichang
  • Minister of Supervision Ma Wen
  • Minister of Civil Affairs Li Xueju
  • Minister of Justice Wu Aiying
  • Minister of Finance Xie Xuren
  • Minister of Personnel Yin Weimin
  • Minister of Labor and Social Security Tian Chengping
  • Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi
  • Minister of Construction Jiang Weixin
  • Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun
  • Minister of Communications Li Shenglin
  • Minister of Information Industry Wang Xudong
  • Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei
  • Minister of Agriculture Sun Zhengcai
  • Minister of Commerce Chen Deming
  • Minister of Culture Cai Wu
  • Minister of Health Chen Zhu
  • State Population and Family Planning Commission Li Bin
  • Governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan
  • National Audit Office (Auditor General) Liu Jiayi

Provincial party secretaries/Governors

• (Follows a traditional order for provinces; this order is the convention on all national and provincial maps)
  • Beijing Municipality (Party Chief Liu Qi [previously mentioned], Mayor Guo Jinlong)
  • Tianjin Municipality (Party Chief Zhang Gaoli [previously mentioned], Mayor Huang Xingguo)
  • Hebei (Party Chief Zhang Yunchuan, Governor Hu Chunhua)
  • Shanxi (Party Chief Zhang Baoshun, Governor Wang Jun)
  • Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Party Chief Chu Bo, Chairman Bagatur)
  • Liaoning (Party Chief Wang Min, Governor Chen Zhenggao)
  • Jilin (Party Chief Sun Zhengcai, Governor Han Changfu)
  • Heilongjiang (Party Chief Ji Bingxuan, Governor Li Zhanshu)
  • Shanghai Municipality (Party Chief Yu Zhengsheng [previously mentioned], Mayor Han Zheng)
  • Jiangsu (Party Chief Liang Baohua, Governor Luo Zhijun)
  • Zhejiang (Party Chief Zhao Hongzhu, Governor Lu Zushan)
  • Anhui (Party Chief Wang Jinshan, Governor Wang Sanyun)
  • Fujian (Party Chief Lu Zhangong, Governor Huang Xiaojing)
  • Jiangxi (Party Chief Su Rong, Governor Wu Xinxiong)
  • Shandong (Party Chief Jiang Yikang, Governor Jiang Daming)
  • Henan (Party Chief Xu Guangchun, Governor Guo Gengmao)
  • Hubei (Party Chief Luo Qingquan, Governor Li Hongzhong)
  • Hunan (Party Chief Zhang Chunxian, Governor Zhou Qiang)
  • Guangdong (Party Chief Wang Yang [previously mentioned], Governor Huang Huahua)
  • Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Party Chief Guo Shengkun, Chairman Ma Biao)
  • Hainan (Party Chief Wei Liucheng, Governor Luo Baoming)
  • Chongqing Municipality (Party Chief Bo Xilai [previously mentioned], Mayor Wang Hongju)
  • Sichuan (Party Chief Liu Qibao, Governor Jiang Jufeng)
  • Guizhou (Party Chief Shi Zongyuan, Governor Lin Shusen)
  • Yunnan (Party Chief Bai Enpei, Governor Qin Guangrong)
  • Tibet Autonomous Region (Party Chief Zhang Qingli, Chairman Qiangba Puncog)
  • Shaanxi (Party Chief Zhao Leji, Governor Yuan Chunqing)
  • Gansu (Party Chief Lu Hao, Governor Xu Shousheng)
  • Qinghai (Party Chief Qiang Wei, Governor Luo Huining)
  • Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Party Chief Chen Jianguo, Chairman Wang Zhengwei)
  • Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Party Chief Wang Lequan [previously mentioned], Chairman Nur Bekri)
  • The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong (Chief Executive Donald Tsang)
  • The Special Administrative Region of Macau (Chief Executive Fernando Chui)
  • Representatives of Taiwan Province

All subsequent rankings follow the Chinese political ranking system.

Rankings below the National Leadership

Within the PRC, there is an established convention as to the ranking of officials below the central leadership. Unlike in the west, the Provincial leaders do not enjoy an elevated presence in their own province. Rather they must still be placed behind all national leaders listed above.

Departmental heads of the Communist Party of China, and ministers of the State Council are both called bùzhǎng (部长; literally "Head of Department"), but the Party heads are ranked half a rank above cabinet ministers, reflecting the Party's "vanguard" status. Thus, for example, the head of the Party's International Department (中联部) is treated as half a rank above the minister for Foreign Affairs (外交部). However, this is not true as Departmental heads share the same rank and are treated with the same benefits as cabinet ministers.^[1]

See also

• Politics of the People's Republic of China
• Generations of Chinese leadership

References

1. ^ http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64162/71380/71387/71591/4854995.html