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The orders of precedence in China is the ranking of political leaders in China for the purposes of event protocol and to arrange the ordering of names in official news bulletins, both written and televised. It is also sometimes used to assess perceived level of 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 in which figures are covered by the official media. Since 1982, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party has been the highest-ranking official in the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Depending on the person and the time period, the hierarchy will vary accordingly. Since the 1980s, Chinese political positions have become increasingly institutionalized. However, part of the power Chinese leaders carry still derives from who they are, rather than what position they hold.

Individuals can hold multiple top leadership titles but also be unable to claim to be the de facto head as was the case with Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Hua Guofeng, when "paramount leader" Deng Xiaoping was present. The traditional ranking system was based upon the hierarchical line of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The names on this list includes all those officially considered "Party and State Leaders" (Chinese: 党和国家领导人).

Order of precedence

Applications of protocol

The Order of Precedence has gradually become normalized as the institutions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic became more established and stable. Internal publications and official media adhere to strict ranking protocol when reporting news items or public announcements that involve multiple leaders. Similarly, the order is strictly adhered to when seating leaders at official meetings and functions.

Often, state media news programs, such as Xinwen Lianbo, overlook the actual importance of the story attached to each leader. Rather the news order is determined by political ranking alone. For instance, if a higher-ranked leader is chairing a routine meeting, while a lower-ranked leader is visiting an earthquake disaster zone, the routine meeting will take precedence over the disaster in the order that they are reported.

Protocol ordering of leaders is perhaps most visible at large gatherings of party and state leaders, such as Party Congresses, National People's Congresses, the funeral or memorial service of former leaders, or major anniversary celebrations.

The current order of precedence applies to party, state, and military leaders. It generally follows an order set out by the institutions to which these leaders belong; further ranking of individual leaders are applied within each of the institutions. Where an individual belongs to numerous party and state institutions, they are usually only mentioned on first instance for their highest-ranking post. Since China is a single-party communist state, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party is generally considered to hold the highest position in the political system.

Order of institutions

The organs of the party, state, and military, have a generally applied rank order, as follows:

1. Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
   1. Politburo
      1. Standing Committee of the Politburo
   2. Central Secretariat
2. Highest state power and legislative organ: National People's Congress (NPC)
   1. Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC)
3. Presidency (as a state organ)
4. Highest executive organ: State Council
5. Top-level united front organisation:

   National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)

6. Highest military organ: Central Military Commission (CMC), "one institution bearing two names":
   1. The CMC of the Chinese Communist Party
   2. The CMC of the People's Republic of China
7. Highest supervisory organs (two institutions sharing one office):
   1. Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI)
   2. National Supervisory Commission of the People's Republic of China (NSC)
8. Highest judicial organs:
   1. Supreme People's Court (SPC)
   2. Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP)

Order of leaders

Order of names in official news

1. Current members of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, normally including:
   1. General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee
   2. President of the People's Republic of China
   3. Premier of the State Council
   4. Chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee
   5. Chairperson of the CPPCC National Committee
   6. Chairman of the Central Military Commission
   7. Other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, normally including:
      • First Secretary of the CCP Central Secretariat
      • Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
      • First-ranked Vice Premier of the State Council
2. Vice President
3. Other current members of the Politburo, normally including:
   • Vice Premiers of the State Council
   • Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission
4. Former General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee
5. Former members of the Central Politburo Standing Committee
6. Current Members of the CCP Central Secretariat
7. Vice Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee
8. State Councilors
9. Director of the National Supervisory Commission
10. President of the Supreme People's Court
11. Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
12. Vice Chairpersons of the CPPCC National Committee, at the bottom of the list of the current national-level "Leaders of the Party and the State" (党和国家领导人)
13. Retired "Leaders of the Party and the State", except former members of the Politburo Standing Committee, ranked by the highest office they held, repeating the same order above.
14. Central Military Commission members except chairpersons and vice chairpersons are not considered national-level "Leaders of the Party and State" but merely leaders of the People's Liberation Army, and generally listed separately by protocol.
    1. Current CMC members (except chairmen and vice-chairmen)
    2. Former CMC members (except chairmen and vice-chairmen)
15. Provincial-ministerial level officials

Order of seats

1. Current General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee
2. Former General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee
3. Current members of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee except General Secretary, normally including:
   1. President of the People's Republic of China
   2. Premier of the State Council
   3. Chairperson of the NPC Standing Committee
   4. Chairperson of the CPPCC National Committee
   5. Chairman of the Central Military Commission
   6. Other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, normally including:
      • First-ranked Secretary of the CCP Central Secretariat
      • Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
      • First-ranked Vice Premier of the State Council
4. Vice President
5. Former members of the Politburo Standing Committee
6. Other current members of the Politburo, normally including:
   • Vice Premiers of the State Council
   • Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission
7. Current Members of the CCP Central Secretariat
8. Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress Standing Committee
9. State Councilors
10. Director of the National Supervisory Commission
11. President of the Supreme People's Court
12. Prosectors General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
13. Vice Chairpersons of the CPPCC National Committee, at the bottom of the list of the current national-level "Leaders of the Party and the State" (党和国家领导人)
14. Retired "Leaders of the Party and the State", except former members of the Politburo Standing Committee, ranked by the highest office they held, repeating the same order above.
15. Central Military Commission members except chairpersons and vice-chairpersons are not considered national-level "Leaders of the Party and State" but merely leaders of the People's Liberation Army.
    1. Current CMC members (except chairmen and vice-chairmen)
    2. Former CMC members (except chairmen and vice-chairmen)
16. Provincial-ministerial level officials

NB:

• The ranking of a Vice President of the PRC is normally based on whether he is a current or former Politburo Standing Committee member or other member of the Politburo. Press coverage of the March 2018 National People's Congress ranked the new Vice President Wang Qishan immediately after the Standing Committee, from which he recently retired.

National Leaders

National leaders are ranked based on the offices they hold, their seniority, or sometimes simply their perceived personal prestige. During the Mao years, ranking of leaders was fairly arbitrary. For instance, during the Cultural Revolution, Mao himself dictated the exact protocol sequence depending on who was held in favour at the time.^[a]

Since 1982, rankings gradually stabilized and more consistent patterns could be observed. For instance, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party always ranked first in the protocol sequence. This is despite the fact that some General Secretaries were not the pre-eminent political leaders. For example, General Secretaries Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang (both ranked first) were, in practice, subordinate to "paramount leader" Deng Xiaoping, who was ranked behind them in protocol. Deng at the time served as Chairman of the Central Military Commission and was ranked second overall in the leadership hierarchy.

The President is a largely ceremonial post, but it is typically ranked immediately after the General Secretary and before other offices of the state.^[b] When the President and General Secretary are two different people (prior to 1993, and in brief interregnums in 2003 and 2013), the President is ranked second to the General Secretary. Between 1982 and 1987, the President ranked after the Premier.^[c]

After the President, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Premier, and the Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference follow; this ordering seems to supersede the Standing Committee order when officeholders are not themselves part of the Standing Committee, although typically since 1993 the heads of the "four national bodies" are concurrently members of the Standing Committee. Between 1997 and 2002, NPC Chair Li Peng was ranked second. During the same period, the Premier, Zhu Rongji, as head of government, was ranked third. The Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was ranked fourth. This ordering remained consistent between 2002 and 2012, when NPC Chair Wu Bangguo ranked above Premier Wen Jiabao. However, in 2013, this ordering changed. The Premier, Li Keqiang, was ranked 2nd, immediately after the General Secretary, and in front of the NPC Chairman Zhang Dejiang.

The Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, colloquially called the Zhengzhiju Changweihui in Chinese, is the apex of political power in China. Its members (Zhengzhiju Changwei) are strictly ranked. The heads of the four national bodies typically occupy the top four ranking spots of the Standing Committee. The other members of the Standing Committee are ranked immediately after them. The rankings of the remaining Standing Committee members are determined by a combination of the offices they hold and their seniority. For example, Li Changchun served as a Standing Committee member with no strictly defined office between 2002 and 2012; between 2002 and 2007, he was ranked eighth in protocol sequence, but in 2007, having now served one term on the body, his rank rose to fifth, immediately after CPPCC chair Jia Qinglin and in front of putative successor and executive secretary of the Secretariat Xi Jinping.

The current ranking of the Politburo Standing Committee is as follows: