| Supreme leader | |||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 最高领导人 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 最高領導人 | ||||||
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State representative
Executive organ Military organ
Supervisory organ |
 China portal |
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Paramount leader (Chinese: 最高领导人; pinyin: Zuìgāo Lǐngdǎorén; lit. 'highest 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).[1][2][3] The state representative, head of state (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.[4]
The paramount leader is not a formal position nor an office unto itself. The term gained prominence during the era of Deng Xiaoping (1978–1989), when he was able to wield political power without holding any official or formally significant party or government positions at any given time (state representative, head of government or CCP General Secretary).[5] As the leader of the world's largest economy by GDP purchasing power parity (PPP), the second-largest economy by nominal GDP, and a potential superpower, the paramount leader is considered to be one of the world's most powerful political figures.[6][7][8]
There has been significant overlap between paramount leader status and leadership core status, with a majority but not all of paramount leaders being also leadership cores, though they are separate concepts. The term has been used less frequently to describe Deng's successors, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, who have all formally held the offices of General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (party leader), President of the People's Republic of China (state representative) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (commander-in-chief). Jiang, Hu and Xi are therefore usually referred to as president in the international scene, the title used by most other republican heads of state.[4] However, Deng's successors derive their real power from the post of general secretary, which is the primary position in the Chinese power structure[9] and generally regarded by scholars as the post whose holder can be considered paramount leader.[10] The presidency is a largely ceremonial office according to the Constitution,[note 1] and the most powerful position in the Chinese political system is the CCP general secretary.[12]
Xi Jinping is the current paramount leader.[13] He is considered to have taken on the role in November 2012, when he became CCP general secretary, rather than in March 2013 when he succeeded Hu Jintao as president.[14]
- ^ "China's Communist Party Congress: A really simple guide". BBC News. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ Shepherd, Christian (24 October 2022). "From Mao to Xi: Power plays in the succession of Chinese leadership". Washington Post.
- ^ "How China is ruled" Archived 16 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b Ferek, Kate O’Keeffe and Katy Stech. "Stop Calling China's Xi Jinping 'President,' U.S. Panel Says". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ Zhiyue Bo, ed. (2007). China's Elite Politics: Political Transition And Power Balancing. World Scientific Publishing Company. p. 7. ISBN 9789814476966.
- ^ McGregor, Richard (21 August 2022). "Xi Jinping's Radical Secrecy". The Atlantic. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ Sheridan, Michael. "How Xi Jinping became the world's most powerful man". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ O'Connor, Tom (3 February 2022). "Xi and Putin, two of world's most powerful men, to meet in China, US absent". Newsweek. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ Chris Buckley and Adam Wu (10 March 2018). "Ending Term Limits for China's Xi Is a Big Deal. Here's Why". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
Is the presidency powerful in China? In China, the political job that matters most is the general secretary of the Communist Party. The party controls the military and domestic security forces, and sets the policies that the government carries out. China's presidency lacks the authority of the American and French presidencies
. - ^ "Xi's here to stay: China leader tipped to outstay term". Business Insider. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
'A lot of analysts now see it as a given that Xi will seek to stay party general secretary, the country's most powerful post,' said Christopher K. Johnson, a former CIA analyst and now China specialist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
- ^ "Krishna Kanta Handique State Open University" Archived 2 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine. "Executive: The President of the Chinese Republic".
- ^ O'Keeffe and, Kate; Ferek, Katy Stech (14 November 2019). "Stop Calling China's Xi Jinping 'President,' U.S. Panel Says". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019..
- ^ "View China's Xi as Party Leader, Not President, Scholars Say". Voice of America. 7 October 2022.
But Clarke and other scholars make the point that Xi's real power lies not in his post as president but in his position as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
- ^ "A simple guide to the Chinese government". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
Xi Jinping is the most powerful figure in the Chinese political system. He is the President of China, but his real influence comes from his position as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
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