About The Committee

The Committee is a leading database on Chinese elite politics. It is continuously updated to reflect the latest personnel changes in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee. Its features will continue to evolve to deliver great user experience and showcase MacroPolo’s analyses.

The latest iteration includes complete career data for the 205 new full members and 171 alternate members after the conclusion of the 20th Party Congress.

The Central Committee is the “selectorate” of CCP elites that mediates political decision-making in China. It includes almost every central and provincial leader of consequence, as well as heads of various government institutions, key military personnel, and leaders of state-owned enterprises. The Central Committee also contains China’s future cohort of top leaders—those who will ascend to the Politburo or its Standing Committee at the 21st Party Congress in 2027.

The Central Committee, according to the Party Constitution, is one of the CCP’s two “highest leading bodies”—the other being the National Congress, which meets every five years—and has “the power to make decisions on major national policies.” The National Congress “elects” the Central Committee, although the process is controlled by top CCP leaders.

When the National Congress is not in session, the Central Committee is charged with implementing its resolutions, directing all CCP work, and representing the CCP in external relations. The Central Committee meets at least once every year for a plenary session, or “plenum,” which is convened by the Politburo. All Central Committee members can participate in plenums but alternate members cannot vote on any decisions.

We hope you find The Committee useful and will follow us for updates. To provide feedback or corrections, please contact Damien Ma and Ruihan Huang.

Methodological Notes:

We strive to provide the best and latest personnel information, based on open-source research. Since this is a dynamic database that will be improved over time, users should take note of a few points:

  • An English-Chinese glossary of most organizations and positions mentioned in The Committee can be downloaded here. Not all organizations or positions have a standard English translation, especially when it comes to minor posts held by committee members early in their careers. Some very recently formed organizations are not yet present in our data. This glossary will be updated.
  • The names of all organizations refer to the contemporaneous name of that organization. For example, many ministries have been dissolved or reorganized over past decades, and are referred to by the name under which they operated while a person worked there.
  • The names of all locations refer to current location names and not historical location names. For example, many former prefectures are now counties, and are referred to as such.
  • Full career data and various demographic details are not always available for all committee members. Multiple consecutive positions are sometimes listed under the same organization entry when official sources do not detail the specific times that each position was held.
  • Career data do not include default positions on CCP leadership committees when a member holds a higher-ranking position on that committee. For example, the Party Secretary of a province is automatically a Standing Committee Member of that province’s CCP Committee.
  • The membership of many leading small groups is uncertain, so while we tried to record all verified members of these groups, there will inevitably be some gaps and oversights in our data. We will continue to update as new sources come to our attention.
  • Position data in the business cards reflect what, in our judgment, are the one or two most important positions held by each member, even though some members also hold more minor appointments.
  • Previous positions reflect either the position a member held immediately before his or her current position or, if a member has held the same position for some time, the position he or she had during the tenure of the 19th Central Committee (2017–2022).
  • In cases where rank data are not clearly defined for some members, we used our judgment to infer rank.
  • Sector data reflect our assessment of the primary sector of that member’s employment. Where members hold simultaneous positions in different sectors, such as having dual Party and state roles, we used our discretion in determining which position to prioritize.

Select Key Abbreviations

CCDI = Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

CCP = Chinese Communist Party

CMC = Central Military Commission

CPPCC = Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

NPC = National People’s Congress

PAP = People’s Armed Police

PLA = People’s Liberation Army

PLAAF = People’s Liberation Army Air Force

PLAN = People’s Liberation Army Navy

SAPPRFT = State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television

SAR = Special Administrative Region

SASAC = State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission

Credits

Creator: Damien Ma
Research Project Lead: Ruihan Huang
Research Assistance: Zhanyuan (Jerry) Yin, Xuerong Shang, Miao (Irene) Qi, Jingxi (Jersey) Yang, Wenhao Li
Design and Development: Annie Inacker, Yna Mataya, Chris Roche