Politburo of the Communist Party of China

The Central Politburo of the Communist Party of China or Political bureau of the CPC Central Committee (also "Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee"), formerly as Central Bureau (中央局) before 1927, is a group of 24 people who oversee the Communist Party of China

Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

. Unlike politburo

Politburo

Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...

s (political bureaus) of other Communist parties

Communist party

A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...

, power within the politburo is centralized in the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China

Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China

The Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Communist Party of China, whose membership varies between 5 and 9 people. The inner workings of the PSC are not well known, although it is believed that decisions of the PSC are...

. The Politburo is nominally appointed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is the highest authority within the Communist Party of China. Its approximately 350 members and alternates are selected once every five years by the National Party Congress....

but the practice since the 1980s has been that the Politburo is self-perpetuating.

The power of the Politburo resides largely in the fact that its members generally simultaneously hold positions within the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

state positions and with the control over personnel appointments that the Politburo and Secretariat have. In addition, some Politburo members hold powerful regional positions. How the Politburo works internally is unclear, but it appears that the full Politburo meets once a month and the standing committee meets weekly. This is believed to be much more infrequent than the former Soviet Politburo

Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Politburo , known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.-Duties and responsibilities:The...

had been. The agenda for the meetings appears to be controlled by the General Secretary

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China , officially General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest ranking official within the Communist Party of China, a standing member of the Politburo and head of the Secretariat...

and decisions are made by consensus rather than by majority vote.

The Politburo was eclipsed by the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee

Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee

The Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee is the permanent bureaucracy of the Communist Party of China and forms a parallel structure to state organizations in the People's Republic of China....

in the early 1980s under Hu Yaobang

Hu Yaobang

Hu Yaobang was a leader of the People's Republic of China who served as both Chairman and Party General Secretary. Hu joined the Chinese Communist Party in the 1930s, and rose to prominence as a comrade of Deng Xiaoping...

, but has re-emerged as a dominant force after Hu's ousting in 1987.

Current (17th) Politburo members

In stroke order of surnames
Surname stroke order
The surname stroke order is a Chinese name ordering system. It arose as an impartial method of categorization of the order in which names appear in official documentation or in ceremonial procedure without any line of hierarchy. In official setting, the number of strokes in a person's surname...

:

16th Politburo members

Wang Lequan
Wang Lequan
Wang Lequan is a Chinese politician, currently serving as the Deputy Chair of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Communist Party of China. He was a prominent regional leader in Xinjiang, China, serving as the Region's Communist Party chief between 1994 and 2010...

(CPC Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

Committee Secretary)
Wang Zhaoguo
Wang Zhaoguo
Wang Zhaoguo is a Chinese politician who came to prominence during the era of Deng Xiaoping. At age 41 he had already acquired a ministerial position job.-Biography:...

(Vice-Chairman of the National People's Congress
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress , abbreviated NPC , is the highest state body and the only legislative house in the People's Republic of China. The National People's Congress is held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China; with 2,987 members, it is the...

Standing Committee; Chair, All-China Federation of Trade Unions
All-China Federation of Trade Unions
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions , is the sole national trade union federation of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest trade union in the world with 134 million members in 1,713,000 primary trade union organizations...

)
Hui Liangyu (Vice-Premier)
Liu Qi
Liu Qi (Communist)
Liu Qi is the CPC Beijing Committee Secretary, first-in-charge of Beijing, and also a member of the CPC Politburo. He was the President of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee.-Biography and Career:...

(CPC Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

Committee Secretary)
Liu Yunshan
Liu Yunshan
-Biography:Liu worked in Inner Mongolia for 20 years, beginning with his appointment there in 1968.Mr. Liu is the Director of the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. But because of party seniority, he serves behind Li Changchun...

(CPC Propaganda Head)
Li Changchun
Li Changchun
Li Changchun is the Propaganda chief of the Communist Party of China. He is the 5th ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, China's de facto top power organ, and has been a member since 2002...
Wu Yi
Wu Yi
Wu Yi was one of four Vice Premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, overseeing the country's economy until March 2008. Known as the "iron lady", Wu is one of the toughest negotiators in China's government.-Biography:...

(Vice-Premier)
Wu Bangguo
Wu Bangguo
Wu Bangguo is a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China. He is currently Chairman and Party secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a position that makes him China's chief legislator...

(Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee)
Wu Guanzheng
Wu Guanzheng
Wu Guanzheng was the head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, an anti-corruption body from 2002 to 2007.-Career:...

(Head of Central Discipline Inspection Commission
Discipline Inspection Commission of the Communist Party of China
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China is the quasi-government body within the People's Republic of China charged with rooting out corruption and malfeasance among Communist Party of China cadres...
Zhang Lichang
Zhang Dejiang
Zhang Dejiang
Zhang Dejiang is a current Vice-Premier and a prominent leader of the Communist Party of China, a member of its Politburo.-Biography:Zhang, a native of Tai'an, Liaoning, attended Yanbian University, where he studied the Korean language. Beginning in August 1978 Zhang attended Kim Il-sung...

(CPC Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

Committee Secretary)
Chen Liangyu
Chen Liangyu
Chen Liangyu was a politician of the People's Republic of China from the ruling Communist Party, and the disgraced CPC Shanghai Committee Secretary, or the city's first-in-charge....

(suspended 2006)
Luo Gan
Luo Gan
Luo Gan is a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and former Political and Legislative Affairs Committee secretary of the People's Republic of China.-Biography:...

(Chair, Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee)
Zhou Yongkang
Zhou Yongkang
Zhou Yongkang is a senior leader of the Communist Party of China who is currently serving as the 9th ranked member of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, and the head of the Central Political and Legislative Committee, an organ directing central government legal policy and the legislative...

(Head of Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security can refer to:* Ministry of Public Security of Burundi* Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China* Ministry of Public Security of Costa Rica* Ministry of Public Security of Israel...

)
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...

(President, General Secretary)
Yu Zhengsheng
Yu Zhengsheng
Yu Zhengsheng is the current CPC party chief in Shanghai, China, a post which makes him first-in-charge of China's largest city. Formerly the party chief in Hubei, Yu is also concurrently a member of the Politburo, and has been since 2002.- Early life :...

(CPC Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

Committee Secretary)
He Guoqiang
He Guoqiang
He Guoqiang is a high-ranking government official in the government of the People's Republic of China. Currently he is the eighth ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee, and the head of the new Central Commission for Discipline Inspection....

(Head of CPC Organization Department)
Jia Qinglin
Jia Qinglin
Jia Qinglin is a senior leader of the People's Republic of China. He is the fourth ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Chairman and Party secretary of the National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference. Jia's functions as...

(Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference)
Guo Boxiong
Guo Boxiong
Guo Boxiong , born July 1942 in Xianyang, Shaanxi province is the current Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, a position he was appointed during the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China along with membership of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China.As one of...

(Vice-Chairman, Central Military Commission
Central Military Commission
A Central Military Commission or National Defense Commission is an organisation typical of Communist one-party states, responsible for supervising the nation's armed forces....

)
Huang Ju
Huang Ju
Huang Ju was the Executive Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China. He joined the Communist Party of China in March 1966. He was ranked 6th out of 9, and was one of the least popular and most partisan members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Party...

(deceased 2007)
Cao Gangchuan
Cao Gangchuan
Cao Gangchuan was vice chairman of Central Military Commission and former Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China. He was also state councilor and director of the PLA General Armament Department.-Biography:...

(Minister of Defense)
Zeng Qinghong
Zeng Qinghong
Zeng Qinghong was the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2008. He became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee during the 2002 16th Party Congress. Although he was formally ranked fifth in the nine PSC...

(Vice-President, Principal of Central Party School)
Zeng Peiyan
Zeng Peiyan
Zeng Peiyan is a Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 2002 to 2007 and was a Vice-premier from 2003 to 2008.-Early life and career:...

(Vice-Premier)
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...

(Premier)
Wang Gang
Wang Gang (politician)
Wang Gang is a politician of the People's Republic of China and a leader of the Communist Party of China . He was born in Fuyu County, Jilin Province, and graduated from the department of philosophy of Jilin University. He joined the CPC in June 1971...

(Alternate Member)

15th Politburo members

Ding Guangen
Ding Guangen
Ding Guangen is a politician of the People's Republic of China and a former Minister of Railways of China.- Biography :Ding was elevated to Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China in 1987, and was expected to succeed more prominent posts. However, he was forced to resign due to a...
Tian Jiyun
Tian Jiyun
Tian Jiyun is a politician in the People's Republic of China, known as a supporter of Deng Xiaoping's reforms. The best-known feature of his biography is the speech of 1992, delivered in the Central Party School, in which he ridicules the "leftists"...
Zhu Rongji
Zhu Rongji
Zhū Róngjī is a prominent Chinese politician who served as the Mayor and Party chief in Shanghai between 1987 and 1991, before serving as Vice-Premier and then the fifth Premier of the People's Republic of China from March 1998 to March 2003.A tough administrator, his time in office saw the...
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin
Jiang Zemin is a former Chinese politician, who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and as Chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2005...
Li Peng
Li Peng
Li Peng served as the fourth Premier of the People's Republic of China, between 1987 and 1998, and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, from 1998 to 2003. For much of the 1990s Li was ranked second in the Communist Party of China ...
Li Changchun
Li Changchun
Li Changchun is the Propaganda chief of the Communist Party of China. He is the 5th ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, China's de facto top power organ, and has been a member since 2002...
Li Lanqing
Li Lanqing
Li Lanqing is a prominent Chinese politician.-Biography:He is a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China. While in government he was First Vice-Premier. In his capacity as Vice Premier, Li was responsible for national education policy...
Li Tieying
Li Ruihuan
Li Ruihuan
Li Ruihuan was a politician active late 20th century and early 21st century in the People's Republic of China. Li was a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China until November 2002...
Wu Bangguo
Wu Bangguo
Wu Bangguo is a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China. He is currently Chairman and Party secretary of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a position that makes him China's chief legislator...
Wu Guanzheng
Wu Guanzheng
Wu Guanzheng was the head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, an anti-corruption body from 2002 to 2007.-Career:...
Chi Haotian
Chi Haotian
General Chi Haotian is a general of the People's Republic of China.-Biography:Chi was born July, 1929 in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province, China. In October, 1946 he joined the CPC...
Zhang Wannian
Zhang Wannian
Zhang Wannian was a general of the People's Republic of China.-Biography:General Zhang Wannian was born in Huangxian county , Shandong Province of China in August 1928....
Luo Gan
Luo Gan
Luo Gan is a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China and former Political and Legislative Affairs Committee secretary of the People's Republic of China.-Biography:...
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
Jiang Chunyun
Jiang Chunyun
Jiang Chunyun was vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the 9th National People's Congress.-Biography:...
Jia Qinglin
Jia Qinglin
Jia Qinglin is a senior leader of the People's Republic of China. He is the fourth ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Chairman and Party secretary of the National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Conference. Jia's functions as...
Qian Qichen
Qian Qichen
Qian Qichen is a Chinese diplomat and communist political figure. He served as Chinese foreign minister from April 1988 to March 1998.-Biography:...
Huang Ju
Huang Ju
Huang Ju was the Executive Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China. He joined the Communist Party of China in March 1966. He was ranked 6th out of 9, and was one of the least popular and most partisan members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Party...
Wei Jianxing
Wei Jianxing
Wei Jianxing is a former senior leader in the Communist Party of China, a standing committee member of politburo in CPC, the secretary of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, and the chairman of All-China Federation of Trade Unions.- Biography :Wei...
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao is the sixth and current Premier and Party secretary of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, serving as China's head of government and leading its cabinet. In his capacity as Premier, Wen is regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy...
Xie Fei
Xie Fei (politician)
Xie Fei was a politburo member of Communist Party of China, and vice chairman of standing committee of National People's Congress.-Biography:...

(deceased on October 27, 1999)
Zeng Qinghong
Zeng Qinghong
Zeng Qinghong was the Vice-President of the People's Republic of China from 2003 to 2008. He became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee during the 2002 16th Party Congress. Although he was formally ranked fifth in the nine PSC...

(alternate)
Wu Yi
Wu Yi
Wu Yi was one of four Vice Premiers of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, overseeing the country's economy until March 2008. Known as the "iron lady", Wu is one of the toughest negotiators in China's government.-Biography:...

(alternate)

External links

"Hu Jintao and the Party Politburo", Winter 2004: Party Affairs, By Alice L. Miller, China Leadership Monitor No. 9
www.nodulo.org Pictures of the members (Spanish)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Current (17th) Politburo members

16th Politburo members

15th Politburo members

See also

External links