Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

中国共产党中央委员会
20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Overview
TypeHighest decision-making organ when National Congress is not in session.
Elected byNational Congress
Length of termFive years
Term limitsNone
History
Establishedby 2nd National Congress on 23 July 1922 (1922-07-23)
First convocation23 July 1922
Leadership
General SecretaryXi Jinping, General Secretary of the Party Central Committee
Executive organPolitburo
Administrative organSecretariat
Military organCentral Military Commission
Members
Total205
Alternates
Total171
Elections
Last election20th National Congress (2022)
Meeting place
Jingxi Hotel, Beijing
(Working sessions)
Great Hall of the People, Beijing
Constitution
Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party
Regulation
Regulation on the Work of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
Simplified Chinese中国共产党中央委员会
Traditional Chinese中國共產黨中央委員會
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì
Abbreviation
Chinese中共中央
Literal meaningChinese-Communist Central
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōnggòng Zhōngyāng
Alternative abbreviation
Simplified Chinese党中央
Traditional Chinese黨中央
Literal meaningParty Central
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDǎng Zhōngyāng
Shortest abbreviation
Simplified Chinese中央
Traditional Chinese中央
Literal meaningCentral
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōngyāng

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the highest organ when the national congress is not in session and is tasked with carrying out congress resolutions, directing all party work, and representing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) externally. It is currently composed of 205 full members and 171 alternate members (see list). Members are nominally elected once every five years by the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. In practice, the selection process is done privately, usually through consultation of the CCP's Politburo and its corresponding Standing Committee.[1]

The Central Committee is, formally, the "party's highest organ of authority" when the National Congress is not in a plenary session. According to the CCP's constitution, the Central Committee is vested with the power to elect the General Secretary and the members of the Politburo and its Standing Committee, as well as the Central Military Commission. It endorses the composition of the Secretariat and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. It also oversees the work of various executive national organs of the CCP. The administrative activities of the Central Committee are carried out by the Central Committee's General Office. The General Office forms the support staff of the central organs that work on the Central Committee's behalf in between plenary sessions (plenums).

The Committee usually convenes at least once a year at a plenum, and functions as a top forum for discussion about relevant policy issues. The committee operates, however, on the principle of democratic centralism; i.e., once a decision is made, the entire body speaks with one voice. The role of the Central Committee has varied throughout history. While it generally exercises power through formal procedures defined in the party constitution, the ability for it to affect outcomes of national-level personnel decisions is limited, as that function has generally been, in practice, carried out by the Politburo and retired party elders who retain influence. Nonetheless, Central Committee plenums function as venues whereby policy is discussed, fine-tuned, and publicly released in the form of "resolutions" or "decisions".

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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