Chairman of the Communist Party of China

Chairman of the Communist Party of China
Former political post
The emblem of the Communist Party of China
Chairman Mao Zedong held this post for 33 years.
Predecessor	General Secretary
Successor	General Secretary
First officeholder	Chen Duxiu
Last officeholder	Hu Yaobang
Style	Zhǔxí（主席）
Official residence	Zhongnanhai
Appointer	Central Committee
Political office started	1922 March 20, 1943
Political office ended	1925 September 1, 1982

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 and named Mao Zedong 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 1956-1966; Zhou Enlai from 1973-1975; 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".

Although Hua Guofeng succeeded Mao at the party chairmanship, he was unable to enforce his authority when, in 1978, then Vice-Chairman Deng Xiaoping became the de facto leader of China.

The post of Chairman was abolished in 1982 and the General Secretary was re-introduced.

List of the CPC Chairmen

Order	Image	Chairmen	Term Start	Term End
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee (1922-1925)
1		Chen Duxiu (陈独秀 / 陳獨秀) 9 October 1879(1879-10-09) - 27 July 1942(1942-07-27) (aged 48)	July 1922	Junuary 1925
Chairman of the Central Politburo (1943-1956)
1		Mao Zedong (毛泽东 / 毛澤東) 26 December 1893(1893-12-26) - 9 September 1976(1976-09-09) (aged 82)	20 March 1943	28 September 1956
Chairman of the Central Committee (1945-1982)
1		Mao Zedong (毛泽东 / 毛澤東)	19 June 1945	9 September 1976
2		Hua Guofeng (华国锋 / 華國鋒) 16 February 1921(1921-02-16) - 20 August 2008(2008-08-20) (aged 87)	7 October 1976	28 June 1981
3		Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦) 20 November 1915(1915-11-20) - 15 April 1989(1989-04-15) (aged 73)	29 June 1981	11 September 1982

List of the Vice-chairmen

Main article: Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of China

• 8th Central Committee (1956–1969)
  • Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun, Liu Shaoqi (expelled in 1968), Zhu De, Lin Biao (from 1959).
• 9th Central Committee (1969–1973)
  • Lin Biao (died in 1971).
• 10th Central Committee (1973–1977)
  • Hua Guofeng (First Vice-Chairman from 6 April 1976, Chairman from 9 September), Zhou Enlai (died in 1976), Kang Sheng (died in 1975), Li Desheng, Wang Hongwen (arrested in 1976), Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping (from 1975 to 1976, and from 1977).
• 11th Central Committee (1977–1982)
  • Li Xiannian, Wang Dongxing, Ye Jianying, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, Hua Guofeng (from 1981), Zhao Ziyang (from 1981).

Gallery

Chairmen of the Party

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  陈独秀 Chen Duxiu

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  毛泽东 Mao Zedong

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  华国锋 Hua Guofeng

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  胡耀邦 Hu Yaobang