Paramount leader

Paramount Leader (simplified Chinese: 党和国家最高领导人; traditional Chinese: 黨和國家最高領導人; pinyin: dǎng hé guójiā zuìgāo lǐngdǎorén) literally "the highest leader of the party and the country", in modern Chinese political science, unofficially refers to the political leader of the People's Republic of China who holds absolute influences over culture, media, or controls the three branches of the Chinese political system (Communist Party of China, Central People's Government and People's Liberation Army) that hold real power. The current Paramount Leader of China is Hu Jintao.

At present, the paramount leader usually has held the following posts:

• General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (The highest ranking position in the 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; pinyin: zhōngguó gòngchǎn dǎng zhōngyāng wěiyuánhuì zǒng shūjì)
• President of the People's Republic of China (The head of state - Powerless figurehead) (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国主席; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國主席; pinyin: zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó zhǔxí)
• Chairman of the Central Military Commission (Commander-in-chief of the armed forces) (simplified Chinese: 中央军事委员会主席; traditional Chinese: 中央軍事委員會主席; pinyin: zhōngyāng jūnshì wěiyuánhuì zhǔxí)

Until the mid-1990s, the paramount leader was able to wield power without necessarily holding any official or formally significant governmental position. The most notable example is former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping who held supreme power in the People's Republic of China roughly from 1978 to 1989 without officially holding the top political offices. However with the passing of the Long March generation and institutionalization of power within the PRC, political power has become much more associated with the holding of political offices. In particular, since the transfer of power to Hu Jintao, the previous generation of Chinese leaders including Jiang Zemin, Li Peng and Zhu Rongji have not played an active role in political decision-making.

History

The term was commonly applied to Mao Zedong, who at times ruled with practically absolute power, and Deng Xiaoping, who was the most influential person in the PRC despite not holding the most powerful official positions. Following the death of Deng Xiaoping, the term has seldom been used since power is held more-or-less collectively by the members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China with the President acting as a first among equals figure and different factions jockeying for influence. Policy decisions are thought to be made via majority vote of Standing Committee members following internal discussions.^[1]. For example, though Jiang Zemin left the Standing Committee in 2002 and resigned all his posts in 2004, members of the Shanghai clique (of which Jiang is a member) still retain a majority in the Standing Committee.

Leadership transition takes several months. For instance, in the case of Hu Jintao:

• General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (November 2002)
• President of the People's Republic of China (March 2003)
• Chairman of the Central Military Commission (September 2004)

Usually the office as Chairman of the Central Military Commission is the last office handed over by the previous paramount leader, in order to secure political influence and ensure political continuity.

List of Paramount leaders

To date, "paramount leader" has been applied to five individual Chinese statesmen (dates approximate and open to dispute):

      First generation       Not included in the generation order       Second generation       Third generation       Fourth generation

Picture	Name	Title	Period	Supreme Rule
	Mao Zedong 毛泽东	Chairman of the CPC Central Politburo	March 20, 1943 - June, 1945	October 1, 1949 - September 9, 1976
		Chairman of the CPC Central Committee	June, 1945 - September 9, 1976
		Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee	October 9, 1949 - December 25, 1954
		Chairman of the Central People's Government of PRC	October 1, 1949 - September 27, 1954
		Chairman of the People's Republic of China	September 27, 1954 - April 27, 1959
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of CPC	September 8, 1954 - September 9, 1976
	Hua Guofeng 华国锋	Chairman of the CPC Central Committee	September 9, 1976 - June 1981	September 9, 1976 - December 22, 1978
		Premier of the State Council of PRC	February 4, 1976 - September 1980
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of CPC	October 6, 1976 - June 1981
	Deng Xiaoping 邓小平	First Vice Premier of the State Council of PRC	January 17, 1975 – June 18, 1983	December 22, 1978 - October 12, 1992
		Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee	June 1981 - June 18, 1983
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of PRC	1983 - 1990
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of CPC	June 1981 - November 9, 1989
	Jiang Zemin 江泽民	General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee	June 24, 1989 – November 25, 2002	October 12, 1992 - September 19, 2004
		President of the People's Republic of China	March 27, 1993 - March 15, 2003
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of PRC	1990 - March 13, 2005
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of CPC	November 9, 1989 - September 19, 2004
	Hu Jintao 胡锦涛	General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee	November 15, 2002 - Incumbent	September 19, 2004 - Incumbent
		President of the People's Republic of China	March 15, 2003 - Incumbent
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of CPC	September 19, 2004 - Incumbent
		Chairman of the Central Military Commission of PRC	March 13, 2005 - Incumbent

See also

• List of leaders of the Communist Party of China
• President of the People's Republic of China
• Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
• Chairman of the Central Military Commission
• Political position ranking of PRC
• List of Chinese leaders
• Supreme Leader of Iran

References

v • d • e Leaders of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong · Hua Guofeng · Deng Xiaoping · Jiang Zemin · Hu Jintao