1.
President of the People's Republic of China
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The President of the Peoples Republic of China is the head of state of the Peoples Republic of China. Under the constitution, the presidency is a ceremonial office with limited powers. However, since 1993, as a matter of convention, the presidency has been held simultaneously by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the current President is Xi Jinping, who took office in March 2013. Since 1993, apart from periods of transition, the top leader of China simultaneously serves as the President, the head of the party. This individual then carries out different duties under separate titles, the office was first established in the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China in 1954 and successively held by Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi. Liu fell into disgrace during the Cultural Revolution, after which the office became vacant. The office was abolished under the Constitution of 1975, then reinstated in the Constitution of 1982, the official English-language translation of the title was Chairman, after 1982, this translation was changed to President, although the Chinese title remains unchanged. The President is limited to serve up to two terms of five years each, according to the current Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China, the President must be a Chinese citizen with full electoral rights who has reached the age of 45. The Presidents term of office is the same as the term of the National Peoples Congress, the President is elected by the National Peoples Congress, Chinas highest state body, which also has the power to remove the President and other state officers from office. Elections and removals are decided by a majority vote. According to the Organic Law of the NPC, the President is nominated by the NPC Presidium, in practice, however, the ruling Communist Party of China reserves the post of President for its current General Secretary. Like all officers of state elected by the NPC, the President is elected from a one name ballot, in the event that the office of President falls vacant, the Vice-President succeeds to the office. In the event that both offices fall vacant, the Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee temporarily acts as President until the NPC can elect a new President and Vice-President, in addition, the President names and dismisses ambassadors to foreign countries, signs and annuls treaties with foreign entities. According to the Constitution, all of these require the approval or confirmation of the National Peoples Congress. The President also conducts state visits on behalf of the Peoples Republic, under the constitution the state visit clause is the only presidential power that does not stipulate any form of oversight from the National Peoples Congress. As the vast majority of powers are dependent on the ratification of the NPC, the President is, in essence. It is therefore conceived to function as an symbolic institution of the state rather than an office with true executive powers. Upon the nomination of the Premier, the NPC convenes to confirm the nomination, to date, it has never rejected a personnel nomination
2.
Premier of the People's Republic of China
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This position was originally known as Premier of the Government Administration Council of the Central Peoples Government and changed to its current name in 1954. The Premier is formally approved by the National Peoples Congress upon the nomination of the President, in practice, the candidate is chosen through an informal process within the Communist Party of China. Both the President and the Premier are selected once every five years, the Premier has always been a member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China. The current Premier is Li Keqiang, who took office on 15 March 2013, the Premier is the highest administrative position in the Government of the Peoples Republic of China. The Premier is responsible for organizing and administering the Chinese civil bureaucracy, for example, the Premier is tasked with planning and implementing national economic, social development and the state budget. The Premiers powers and responsibilities are codified into the constitution unlike the Prime Minister from the Westminster system as by convention or traditions, the Premier has been supported by four Vice-Premiers since Deng Xiaopings reform in 1983. The First-ranked Vice Premier will act in the capacity in their absence. As of April 2017, there are three living former premiers, Since the first premier, seven had a spouse during term of office
3.
Hu Jintao
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Hu Jintao is a Chinese politician who was the paramount leader of China from 2002 to 2012. He was a member of the 14th to 17th CPC Politburo Standing Committee, Hu is the first leader of the Communist Party without any significant revolutionary credentials. As such, his rise to the leadership represented Chinas transition of leadership from establishment communists to younger, during his term in office, Hu reintroduced state control in some sectors of the economy that were relaxed by the previous administration, and was conservative with political reforms. Along with his colleague Premier Wen Jiabao, Hu presided over nearly a decade of consistent economic growth, meanwhile, Hu followed conservative policies on China politically, cracking down on social disturbances, ethnic minority protests, and dissident figures. On foreign policy, Hu advocated for Chinas peaceful development, pursuing soft power in international relations, throughout Hus tenure, Chinas influence in Africa, Latin America, and other developing regions increased. Hu possessed a low-key and reserved leadership style and his tenure was characterized by collective leadership and consensus-based rule. These traits made Hu a rather unknown figure in the public eye, Hu retired in 2013 and was succeeded by Xi Jinping. Hu Jintao was born on 21 December 1942 in Taizhou, Jiangsu province and his branch of the family migrated from Jixi County, Anhui to Taizhou during his grandfathers generation. Though his father owned a tea trading business in Taizhou. His mother was a teacher and died when he was 7, Hus father was denounced during the Cultural Revolution, an event that apparently had a deep effect upon Hu, who diligently tried to clear his fathers name. During his time at Tsinghua, he met his wife Liu Yongqing, from 1969 to 1974, he worked for Sinohydro Engineering Bureau as an engineer. In 1973, Hu was transferred to the Construction Department of Gansu as a secretary, the next year he was promoted to vice senior chief. In 1980, Deng Xiaoping implemented the Four Transformations program, which aimed to produce communist leaders who were more revolutionary, younger, more knowledgeable, another protégé of Song, Wen Jiabao, also became prominent at the same time. In 1982, Hu was promoted to the position of Communist Youth League Gansu Branch Secretary and was appointed as the director of the All-China Youth Federation. His mentor Song Ping was transferred to Beijing as Minister of Organization of the Communist Party of China, with the support of Hu Yaobang and Deng Xiaoping, Hu was assured of a bright future in the party. At Song Pings suggestion, in 1982 central CPC authorities invited Hu to Beijing to study at the Central Party School, soon after, he was transferred to Beijing and appointed as secretariat of the Communist Youth League Central Committee. Two years later Hu was promoted to First Secretary of CY Central, during his term in the Youth League, Hu escorted Hu Yaobang, who was CPC General Secretary then, in visits around the country. Hu Yaobang, himself a veteran coming from the Youth League, in 1985, then-Communist Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang pushed for Hu Jintao to be transferred to Guizhou as the provincial Committee Secretary of Communist Party of China
4.
Wen Jiabao
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Wen Jiabao was the sixth Premier of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China, serving as Chinas head of government for a decade between 2003 and 2013. In his capacity as Premier, Wen was regarded as the figure behind Beijings economic policy. From 2002 to 2012, he held membership in the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the de facto top power organ. He worked as the chief of the Party General Office between 1986 and 1993, and accompanied Party general secretary Zhao Ziyang to Tiananmen Square during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. In 1998, he was promoted to the post of Vice Premier under Premier Zhu Rongji, his mentor, Wen was dubbed the peoples premier by both domestic and foreign media. Instead of concentrating on GDP growth in cities and rich coastal areas, Wen advocated for advancing policies considered more favourable towards farmers. Wens government reduced taxes and pursued ambitious infrastructure projects. Following the global crisis of 2008, Wens government injected four trillion yuan as part of a stimulus program. He left office in 2013 and was succeeded by Li Keqiang, a native of Beichen District, Tianjin, Wen Jiabao went to the Nankai High School from which his predecessor premier Zhou Enlai graduated. He joined the Communist Party of China in April 1965 and entered the force in September 1967. Wen has a background in engineering and holds a degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology. He studied geomechanics in Beijing and began his career in the bureau of Gansu province. From 1968–1978, he presided over the Geomechanics Survey Team under the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau, Wen succeeded in office, rising as chief of the Gansu Provincial Geological Bureau and later as Vice-minister of Geology and Mineral Resources. Wen was discovered by then-general secretary Hu Yaobang, and joined the ranks of the Central Committee, after Wen was promoted to work in Beijing, he served as Chief of the Partys General Affairs Office, an organ that oversaw day-to-day operations of the partys leaders. He remained in the post for eight years, Wen has built a network of patronage during his career. Throughout this period Wen was said to be an administrator and technocrat, having earned a reputation for meticulousness, competence. Wen served as Secretary of the Central Financial Work Commission from 1998 to 2002, Wens most significant political recovery occurred after accompanying Zhao on his visit to students demonstrating in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Wen Jiabao is the only Chief of the Partys General Affairs Office to have served under three General Secretaries, Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang, and Jiang Zemin
5.
Xi Jinping
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Xi Jinping is the current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the Peoples Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. As General Secretary, Xi holds a seat on the Politburo Standing Committee. The son of Communist veteran Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping rose through the ranks politically in Chinas coastal provinces, Xi was governor of Fujian from 1999 to 2002, and governor, then party secretary of neighboring Zhejiang province from 2002 to 2007. Following the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, Xi was transferred to Shanghai as party secretary for a period in 2007. Xi joined the Politburo Standing Committee and central secretariat in October 2007, Xi was vice-president from 2008 to 2013 and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 2010 to 2012. Since assuming power, Xi has attempted to legitimize the authority of the Communist Party by introducing far-ranging measures to enforce party discipline and he initiated an unprecedented and far-reaching campaign against corruption, leading to the downfall of prominent incumbent and retired officials. Xi has also imposed further restrictions over civil society and ideological discourse, Xi Jinping was born in Beijing on 15 June 1953. After the founding of the Communist state in 1949, Xis father held a series of posts, including propaganda chief, vice-premier, Xis father is from Fuping County, Shaanxi, and Xi could further trace his patrilineal descent from Xiying in Dengzhou, Henan. He is the son of Xi Zhongxun and his wife Qi Xin. When Xi was age 10, his father was purged from the Party and sent to work in a factory in Luoyang, Henan. In May 1966, Xis secondary education was cut short by the Cultural Revolution, Xi was age 15 when his father was jailed in 1968 during the Cultural Revolution. Without the protection of his father, Xi was sent to work in Yanchuan County, Shaanxi and he later became the Party branch secretary of the production team, leaving that post in 1975. When asked about this experience later by Chinese state television, Xi recalled, and when the ideals of the Cultural Revolution could not be realised, it proved an illusion. From 1979 to 1982, Xi served as secretary for his fathers former subordinate Geng Biao and this gained Xi some military background. In 1985, as part of a Chinese delegation to study American agriculture, he visited the town of Muscatine and this trip, and his stay with an American family, has been considered influential in his views on the United States. Xi joined the Communist Youth League in 1971 and the Communist Party of China in 1974, in 1982, he was sent to Zhengding County in Hebei as deputy Party Secretary of Zhengding County. He was promoted in 1983 to Secretary, becoming the top official of the county, Xi subsequently served in four provinces during his regional political career, Hebei, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. Xi held posts in the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee and became the president of the Party School in Fuzhou in 1990, in 1997, Xi was named an alternate member of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
6.
Li Keqiang
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Li Keqiang is the current Premier of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China. An economist by training, Li is Chinas head of government as well as one of the figures behind Chinese economic policy. He is also the member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China. Li is a part of the fifth generation of Chinese leadership. Li was named the Worlds 12th Most Powerful Person by the Forbes list of The Worlds Most Powerful People in 2015 and 2016, Li rose through the ranks through his involvement in the Communist Youth League. From 1998 to 2004, Li served as the Governor of Henan, from 2004 to 2007 he served as the Party Secretary of Liaoning, the top political office in the province. Given his Youth League experience, Li has generally been considered an ally of former leader Hu Jintao. Li assumed the post of Premier in 2013, and has facilitated the Chinese governments shifting of priorities from export-led growth to a focus on internal consumption. Li has also been a force behind the implementation of the comprehensively deepening reforms announced in the fall of 2013. Li was born on 1 July 1955 in Hefei, the capital and his father was a local official in Anhui. He was awarded the honour of Outstanding Individual in the Study of Mao Zedong Thought during this time and he earned a PhD in economics in 1995, and the prominent economist Li Yining was his doctoral advisor. His doctoral dissertation was awarded the Sun Yefang Prize, Chinas highest prize in economics, in 1980, Li became the Communist Youth League secretary at Peking University. Li became the organizations First Secretary in 1993 and served until 1998 and he is a representative member of the first generation to have risen from the CYL leadership. Li became the youngest Chinese provincial governor in June 1998 when he was appointed governor of Henan at the age of 43, according to provincial officials working with him at the time, Li refused to participate in any banquets or large fancy events not related to government activities. During his time as governor, a sense of his bad luck grew due to the occurrence of three major fires in the province. Li is known to be outspoken and led development in Henan. Li did not spend time pursuing superficial projects and he trekked through all regions of the province trying to search for a comprehensive solution to its growing problems. Henan jumped in national GDP rankings from 28th in the early 1990s to 18th in 2004, however, his government was relatively ineffective at curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic that was affecting the rural areas of the province
7.
Communist Party of China
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The Communist Party of China is the founding and ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China. It was founded in 1921, chiefly by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, the CPC is currently the worlds second largest political party with a membership of 88.76 million as of 2016. It also controls the worlds largest armed force, the Peoples Liberation Army, the highest body of the CPC is the National Congress, convened every fifth year. The partys leader holds the offices of General Secretary, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, through these posts the party leader is the countrys paramount leader. The current party leader is Xi Jinping, elected at the 18th National Congress, the CPC is still committed to communist thought and continues to participate in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties each year. The official explanation for Chinas economic reforms is that the country is in the stage of socialism. The planned economy established under Mao Zedong was replaced by the socialist market economy, the CPC has its origins in the May Fourth Movement of 1919, during which radical ideologies like Marxism and anarchism gained traction among Chinese intellectuals. Other influences stemming from the Bolshevik revolution and Marxist theory inspired the Communist Party of China, Li Dazhao was the first leading Chinese intellectual who publicly supported Leninism and world revolution. In contrast to Chen Duxiu, Li did not renounce participation in the affairs of the Republic of China, both of them regarded the October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere. The CPC was modeled on Vladimir Lenins theory of a vanguard party, Study circles were, according to Cai Hesen, the rudiments. Several study circles were established during the New Culture Movement, the founding National Congress of the CPC was held on 23–31 July 1921. With only 50 members in the beginning of 1921, the CPC organization, while it was originally planned to be held in Shanghai French Concession, police officers interrupted the meeting on 3 July. Because of that, the congress was moved to a tourist boat on South Lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, only 12 delegates attended the congress, with neither Li nor Chen being able to attend. Chen sent a representative to attend the congress. The resolutions of the called for the establishment of a communist party. The communists dominated the left wing of the KMT, a party organized on Leninist lines, when KMT leader Sun Yat-sen died in March 1925, he was succeeded by a rightist, Chiang Kai-shek, who initiated moves to marginalize the position of the communists. Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition to overthrow the warlords, Chiang Kai-shek turned on the communists, ignoring the orders of the Wuhan-based KMT government, he marched on Shanghai, a city controlled by communist militias. Although the communists welcomed Chiangs arrival, he turned on them, Chiangs army then marched on Wuhan, but was prevented from taking the city by CPC General Ye Ting and his troops
8.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
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The officeholder is usually considered the paramount leader of China. According to the Constitution, the General Secretary serves as an ex member of the Politburo Standing Committee. The current General Secretary is Xi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012, as China is a de facto one-party state, the General Secretary holds ultimate power and authority over state and government. However, the men who have held the post have held far less power than Chairman Mao Zedong, since the mid-1990s, the General Secretary has traditionally also held the post of President of the PRC. While the presidency is nominally a ceremonial post, it is customary for the General Secretary to assume the presidency to confirm his status as de jure head of state. These bodies were tasked with establishing the general direction for national security as well as the agenda for economic reform. Both groups are headed by the General Secretary, that the power of the General Secretary has become more concentrated
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