Office of the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Office of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

中国共产党中央委员会总书记办公室
Abbreviation	Zǒngshūjì Bàngōngshì (总书记办公室)
Formation	June 1989
Type	Institution directly under the General Office of the Central Committee Deputy-ministerial level agency
Legal status	Departmental level rank
Headquarters	Qinzheng Hall, Zhongnanhai, Beijing
Director	Han Shiming
Parent organization	Central Committee General Office

The Office of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party often referred to as the General Secretary's Office (总书记办公室) is a bureau whose staff is assigned to work directly under, and closely with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s General Secretary. The Office manages personal affairs of the General Secretary and is a part of the Central Committee, but reports directly to the General Secretary. The director of the Office of the General Secretary and the staff under him are considered to be Mishus, or trusted confidants responsible for maintaining the private information and correspondence of the party's leader.

The office is distinct from, and administratively subordinate to, the CCP General Office, whose staff support the many party departments under the CCP Central Committee, the CCP Secretariat and the CCP Politburo. In spite of this distinction, Cai Qi, the incumbent head of the Office of the General Secretary, is concurrently also head of the CCP Central Committee General Office and CCP Politburo Standing Committee member.^[1] All directors of the Office of the General Secretary have also concurrently served as directors of the Office of the President.

History

The earlier position of Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party did not have formal staff responsible for supporting only their work specifically. After the office of Chairman of the CCP Central Committee was replaced by the general secretary of the CCP Central Committee in 1982, the two general secretaries Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang respectively employed Lin Mu and Bao Tong as their main secretaries. In spite of this arrangement, the office of the general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was not yet formally established. It was not until Jiang Zemin became the general secretary that the official institution of the General Secretary's Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was clearly established. Under the Hu Jintao Administration, the position was considered to be of Ministerial Rank, though under Xi Jinping Administration, the position is now Departmental Rank, which is one level lower.^[2]

Directors of the Office of the General Secretary

1. Lin Mu (1982–1987) (de facto)
2. Bao Tong (1987–June 1989) (de facto)
3. Jia Tingan (June 1989–2002)
4. Chen Shiju (2002–2013)
5. Ding Xuexiang (2013–2023)^[3]
6. Han Shiming (2023–)

References

1. "Director of the General Secretary's Office: I have been working in Shanghai before entering Beijing". Beijing Youth Daily. SINA Corporation. Archived from the original on 2020-11-04. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
2. "Chen Shiju, former director of the Office of the President of the People's Republic of China, was designated as ministerial". Sohu.com. Sohu.com Limited. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
3. Li, Cheng (2022-10-16). "Candidates for China's 20th Politburo Standing Committee and Politburo". Brookings Institution. Retrieved 2023-01-12.