Order of precedence in China
The political ranking of the People's Republic of China is the ranking of political leaders in China, by order of presumed political power. Although there is no formally published ranking, there is usually an established convention and protocol, and the relative positions of Chinese political figures can usually be deduced from the order in meetings and especially by the time and order which figures are covered by the official media.
Depending on the person and the time period, the hierarchy will vary accordingly. Although Chinese political positions are becoming increasingly institutionalized, part of the power of Chinese leaders still derives from who they are, rather than what position they hold. The informal role as Party "center" (formerly the position of paramount leader) is an example of the continuing importance of non-institutionalized and informal practices of power.
Individuals can hold multiple top leadership titles but also be unable to claim to be the de facto ruler as was the case with Hua Guofeng, when "paramount leader" Deng Xiaoping was present. The traditional ranking system was based upon the hierarchical line of the politburo standing committee; however, "special" cases do arise as it is the case with Jiang Zemin and the 4th Generation leaders. Jiang, although retired from the politburo and the central committee, was nonetheless ranked number two for being the all powerful CMC chairman until his resignation on September 19, 2004.
Party and State leaders
By convention, persons holding positions of the Vice-Chairs of the NPC or above are referred to "Party and State leaders" (党和国家领导人) in the official media. A typical ranking is as follows:
| Rank | Type 1 (Current Ranking) | Current Occupant | Type 2 | Type 3 | Type 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Secretary of the Party | Hu Jintao | General Secretary of the Party | General Secretary of the Party | General Secretary of the Party |
| 2 | President of the PRC | Hu Jintao | President of the PRC | Chairman of the NPC | President of the PRC |
| 3 | Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) | Hu Jintao | Chairman of the NPC | Chairman of the CMC | Chairman of the CMC |
| 4 | Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) | Wu Bangguo | Chairman of the NPC | Chairman of the NPC | Chairman of the NPC |
| 5 | Premier of the state council | Wen Jiabao | Premier of the state council | President of the PRC | President of the PRC |
| 6 | Chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference | Jia Qinglin | Chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference | Chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference | Chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference |
| 7 | Vice President of the PRC | Zeng Qinghong | Vice President of the PRC | Vice Premier of the PRC | Vice Premier of the PRC |
Usage in Media
Official state media, when reporting news pieces, adhere to strict ranking protocol when the news involves multiple top leaders. As a result, the news overlooks the actual importance of the story attached to each leader, rather the news order is determined by political ranking alone. For example, if the Premier was on a relief visit to a region damaged by an earthquake, and the Chairman of the National People's Congress happened to be chairing a regular NPC meeting, the NPC chair would always have his news item placed before that of the Premier. The current order of precedence is as follows:
- Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission
- Jiang Zemin, former President
- Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
- Wen Jiabao, Premier
- Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
- Zeng Qinghong, Vice-President
- Huang Ju, Executive Vice-Premier
- Wu Guanzheng, Head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
- Li Changchun, propaganda head
- Luo Gan, Political and Legislative Affairs Committee secretary
- Other Members of the CCP Politburo (In order of surname strokes)
- Wang Lequan, Party chief of Xinjiang Autonomous Region
- Wang Zhaoguo, Vice-Chairman of NPC
- Hui Liangyu, Vice-Premier
- Liu Qi, Party chief of Beijing, head of Beijing Olympics organizing committee
- Liu Yunshan, Propaganda minister, Secretary in CPC Central Secretariat
- Wu Yi, Vice-Premier
- Zhang Lichang, Party chief of Tianjin
- Zhang Dejiang, Party chief of Guangdong
Chen Liangyu, Party chief of Shanghai(suspended)- Zhou Yongkang, Head of the Ministry of Public Security
- Yu Zhengsheng, Party chief of Hubei
- He Guoqiang, CPC Organization department head
- Guo Boxiong, Executive Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission
- Cao Gangchuan, Minister of Defence, Vice-Chairman of Central Military Commission
- Zeng Peiyan, Vice-Premier
- Wang Gang (Alternate Member)
- Vice-Premiers, Huang Ju, Wu Yi, Zeng Peiyan and Hui Liangyu (in order ranking, they are all Politburo members, hence this ranking only applies inside the State Council)
- State Councilors, Zhou Yongkang, Cao Gangchuan (both previously mentioned), Tang Jiaxuan, Hua Jianmin, Chen Zhili (in order of rank)
- Members of the Central Military Commission
- Vice-chairmen of the NPC (In following order)
- Vice-chairmen of the CPPCC
- Former leaders (in order of seniority)
- Former Presideent Jiang Zemin (previously mentioned)
- Former NPC Chairmen Qiao Shi and Li Peng (in order of seniority)
- Former Premier Zhu Rongji
- Heads of Ministries
- Provincial party secretaries
- Provincial governors
Rankings below the Party and State leadership
Within the PRC, there is an established convention as to the ranking of officials below the central leadership. Typically, directly below the Party and State leadership are members of the State Council, department heads of the Communist Party of China, and leaders of the People's Political Consultative Conference. These are followed by provincial-level officials.
It should be noted that departmental heads of the Communist Party of China, and ministers of the State Council are both called bùzhǎng (部长; literally "Head of Department"), but the Party heads are ranked half a rank above cabinet ministers, reflecting the Party's "vanguard" status. Thus, for example, the head of the Party's International Liaison Department (中联部) is treated as half a rank above the minister for Foreign Affairs (外交部).