Party and state leaders
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"Party and state leaders" (Chinese: 党和国家领导人; Vietnamese: Lãnh đạo chủ chốt của Đảng và Nhà nước) is a governmental and political jargon currently used in political discourse of China, and a lesser extent of Vietnam, in reference to specific senior political leaders in those countries. The jargon is used in In both formal and colloquial contexts, and referred to a defined group of leaders in those countries.
In Chinese political discourse, "party and state leaders" refer to a limited group of individuals currently holding approximately 100 specific positions in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) that are classified into the top two ranks in the Civil service of China[1][2]:
- National-level principals, or colloquially "national leaders" (Chinese: 国家级正职 or 正国级)
- National-level deputies, or colloquially "national deputy-level leaders" (Chinese: 国家级副职 or 副国级)
Other usages
[edit]In Vietnamese political discourse the term refers to individuals holding, as of September 2025, five specific offices. While it remain a formal designation in the Government of Vietnam, the term has been gradually replaced by the colloquial term four pillars in day-to-day use since the early 2000s, which was further formally updated to the five pillars in September 2025.[3]
The term has also been used in the past in China and Vietnam in references to top political leaders of the former Soviet Union.
Current qualified office holders
[edit]The senior leaders of the following institutions qualify as party and state leaders:[4]
- Senior leaders of the three key organs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
- Central Committee
- General Secretary of the Central Committee
- Politburo Standing Committee – members
- Politburo – members and alternate members
- Secretariat – secretaries
- Central Military Commission (of the CPP) – Chair and Vice Chairs
- Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – Secretary
- Central Committee
- Senior leaders of the seven key institutions of the People's Republic of China (PRC)
- National People's Congress – Chair, Vice Chairs of the Standing Committee
- Presidency – President, Vice President
- State Council – Premier, Vice Premiers, State Councilors
- Central Military Commission (of the government) – Chair and Vice Chairs (rank: General/Admiral/Air Force General)
- National Supervisory Commission – Director (rank: Censor-General)
- Supreme People's Court – President (rank: Chief Justice)
- Supreme People's Procuratorate – Procurator-General (rank: Chief Procurator)
- Senior leaders of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Currently, the officeholders of eight titles are qualified as national-level principals and the holder of ten additional titles are qualified as national-level deputies. Many of the titles have multiple positions, and a number of individuals hold multiple positions on the list. Approximately 70 individuals currently formally qualified as party and state leaders, holding among them approximately 100 specific positions. Of the office holders, 6 are women, 19 are not official members of the CCP.
National-level principals
[edit]The officeholders of eight titles, (one with multiple positions) are formally classified as national-level principal. The position of national vice president is not among the offices classified as such, but the current vice president Han Zheng is granted the standing and privileges as a national-level principal leader due previous service in one of these offices. The current occupants of these offices are as follows:
| Office | Entity | Office holder | Concurrent offices held |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Secretary, Central Committee | Party | Xi Jinping 习近平 |
|
| Chair, Central Military Commission | State & Party | ||
| President of China | State | ||
| Premier, State Council | State | Li Qiang 李强 |
|
| Chair, National People's Congress | State | Zhao Leji 赵乐际 |
|
| Chair, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference | State | Wang Huning 王沪宁 |
|
| Standing Committee Members, Politburo (seven in total inclusive of four holding offices listed above) |
Party | Cai Qi 蔡奇 |
First Secretary, CPP Secretariat Director, General Office of the Central Committee Director, Office of the General Secretary |
| Ding Xuexiang 丁薛祥 |
Ranking Vice Premier, State Council | ||
| Li Xi 李希 |
Secretary, Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Director, Central Leading Group for Inspection Work | ||
| Vice President of China (not formally classified as National-level principal leader) |
State | Han Zheng 韩正 |
National-level deputies
[edit]Officeholders of the following offices qualify as national-level deputies and therefore considered among the party and state leaders of China.
- Members, Politburo
- Secretaries, Secretariat of the CCP
- Vice Chairs,Central Military Commission
- Vice Chairpersons, Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC)
- Vice Premiers and State Councilors, State Council
- President of the Supreme People's Court
- Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
- Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CCPCC)
The following are the holders of positions of the Chinese Communist Party (elected or appointed around the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party held in October 2022, unless otherwise noted) and offices of the People's Republic of China (appointed around the subsequent 14th National People's Congress held in March 2023 unless otherwise noted) including those who have been formally removed from office or are currently under investigation.[5]
Historical qualifying offices
[edit]In addition to the holders of the above office, historically, members of the standing committee of the Central Advisory Commission (existed between 1982 and 1992) were considered Party and State leaders. The 20 military leaders who were conferred titles of "Marshal of the People's Republic" and "Grand General of the People's Liberation Army" in 1955 were all considered former Party and State leaders when they were alive.
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d Politburo member since 2017
- ^ a b c Detained and dismissed from office
- ^ Detained and under investigation, but have not been removed from office
- ^ a b c d e Vice Chair, Standing Committee of the NPC since 2018
- ^ A Vice Chair of the National Committee of CPPCC since 2003.
- ^ A Vice Chair of the National Committee of CPPCC since 2010.
- ^ A Vice Chair of the National Committee of CPPCC since 2017.
- ^ a b c d A Vice Chair of the National Committee of CPPCC since 2018.
See also
[edit]- Order of precedence in China
- List of leaders of the People's Republic of China
- List of current Chinese provincial leaders
References
[edit]- ^ Chen, Liangfei (4 March 2014). ""党和國家領導人"排名順序全解析" [A Comprehensive Analysis of the Ranking Order of "Party and State Leaders"]. Jornal San Wa Ou. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
- ^ "党和国家领导人" [Party and state leaders]. China Digital Times. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
- ^ Quang Minh. "Top five leaders in Viet Nam's political system". Government News. Government of Vietnam.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Zheng, Zhizu (12 October 2014). "涨知识|党和国家领导人如何排名" [Increase your knowledge | How are party and state leaders ranked?]. The Paper. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
- ^ Liao, Zewei (2023-03-04). "NPC 2023: How China Selects Its State Leaders for the Next Five Years". NPC Observer. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ^ "委员长会议_中国人大网". www.npc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
- ^ "（两会受权发布）中国人民政治协商会议第十四届全国委员会主席、副主席、秘书长、常务委员名单-新华网". www.news.cn. Retrieved 2026-03-09.