Chairman of the Communist Party of China

Chairman of the Communist Party of China

The emblem of the Communist Party of China
Chairman Mao Zedong held this post for 33 years.
Style Zhǔxí(主席)
Residence Zhongnanhai
Appointer Central Committee
Precursor General Secretary
Formation 1922
20 March 1943
First holder Chen Duxiu
Final holder Hu Yaobang
Abolished 1925
1 September 1982
Succession General Secretary
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Simplified Chinese 中国共产党中央委员会主席
Traditional Chinese 中國共產黨中央委員會主席
Commonly abbreviated as
Simplified Chinese 中共中央主席
Traditional Chinese 中共中央主席

The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (simplified Chinese: 中国共产党中央委员会主席; traditional Chinese: 中國共產黨中央委員會主席; pinyin: Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí) was the head of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In 1982, it was succeeded by the General Secretary of the Central Committee.

History and functions

Between 1922 and 1925, Chen Duxiu (still Party Secretary) served as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (simplified Chinese: 中央执行委员会委员长; traditional Chinese: 中央執行委員會委員長), but the name was changed in General Secretary of the Central Executive Committee in 1925. The post was first introduced in March 1943, when the Politburo decided to discharge Zhang Wentian as General Secretary. As his replacement, Mao Zedong, who had been the de facto leader of the party since the Long March, was named as Chairman of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee (simplified Chinese: 中国共产党中央政治局主席; traditional Chinese: 中國共產黨中央政治局主席). The seventh CPC National Congress introduced the post of Chairman of the Central Committee into the party constitution, and in 1956 the General Secretary was given the day-to-day management of the Party Secretariat. The chairman was elected by the Central Committee in plenary session and had full powers over the CC, the Politburo and its Standing Committee.

The 1956 Party Constitution introduced the multiple Vice-Chairman post; since 1945, actual vice-chairmanship had been exercised by the Secretariat members. Liu Shaoqi was the highest-ranking vice-chairman from 1956 to 1966.

The 1969 Party Constitution (adopted by the 9th Congress) introduced the post of a single vice-chairman, in order to give more authority to Lin Biao as Mao's successor. The 1973 Constitution (adopted by the 10th Congress) re-introduced the collective vice-chairmanship. In 1976, Hua Guofeng was named First Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee, a post previously held unofficially by Liu Shaoqi from 1956 to 1966; Zhou Enlai from 1973 to 1975; and Deng Xiaoping in 1975 in the capacity of "Vice-Chairman in charge of the day-to-day work of the Central Committee".

The 1975 Chinese Constitution reinforced the influence of the party on the state. The Central Committee (and, by extension, its chairman) was placed before the National People's Congress. Article 15 said that "the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China leads all the armed forces of the country". These changes were reversed by the 1982 Constitution of the People's Republic of China which placed the Party below the State and created a state CMC in parallel to the Party CMC.

Although Hua Guofeng succeeded Mao as party chairman, by 1978 he had lost power to Vice-Chairman Deng Xiaoping, who was now acknowledged as the de facto leader of China.

The post of Chairman was abolished in 1982, and most of its functions were transferred to the revived post of General Secretary. The move was made as part of a larger effort to distance the country from Maoist politics. Specifically, Deng and the other members of the CPC leadership wanted to prevent another leader from rising above the party, as Mao had done.

List of the chairmen

No. Portrait Name Took office Left office
1 Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (1922–1925)
A man wearing dark clothes, starring straight at the camera Chen Duxiu
(1879–1942)
1922 1925
Abolished (1925–1943)
2 Chairman of the Central Politburo (1943–1956)
A man wearing dark clothes, starring straight at the camera Mao Zedong
(1893–1976)
20 March 1943 28 September 1958
Chairman of the Central Committee (1945–1982)
A man wearing dark clothes, starring straight at the camera Mao Zedong
(1893–1976)
19 June 1945 9 September 1976
3 A man wearing dark clothes, starring straight at the camera Hua Guofeng
(1921–2008)
7 October 1976 28 June 1981
4 A man wearing dark clothes, starring straight at the camera Hu Yaobang
(1915–1989)
29 June 1981 11 September 1982

List of the Vice-chairmen

Gallery

Chairmen of the Party

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