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62-688: The Social Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is an agency under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of "social work". The department was established in March 2023 under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping after wide-ranging reforms to change the Party and state structure. On 8 July 2023, Wu Hansheng was appointed as the first head of

124-517: A confirmation vote (i.e., vote "yes", "no", or abstain) on a candidate list, where the number of candidates exceed the number of available seats. Unlike the Politburo, whose membership has historically been determined by informal deliberations that include incumbent Politburo members and retired Politburo Standing Committee members, the method of candidate selection for the Central Committee membership receives less coverage, though it appears to be managed by

186-400: A full member or an elevation of an alternate member, are confirmed through passing a formally adopted resolution at Central Committee plenary sessions. Most members of the Central Committee are provincial governors or government ministers. For example, officials holding, or expected to hold the following positions at the time of a new party congress can be generally expected to hold a seat on

248-462: A group that wavered in the face of difficulties and who were "only 30 kilometres away from the rightists". Mao also announced in August that the conflict at the conference is a class struggle and that the conflict "is the continuation of the life-or-death struggle between the two great antagonists of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in the process of the socialist revolution during the past decade." Peng

310-607: A platform to project authority or legitimize decisions which have been made in advance, such as at the Lushan Conference of 1959, when the Central Committee ratified the decision to denounce Peng Dehuai , who had spoken out in opposition of the Great Leap Forward . During the early stages of the Cultural Revolution , the Central Committee essentially ceased to function; it was convened in August 1966 (11th Plenum of

372-442: A provincial leadership post may also be rejected by the "more candidates than seats" voting method – as appeared to be the case with Li Yuanchao (then Jiangsu party chief) in 2002, and Yang Xiong (mayor of Shanghai) in 2012. In contrast to full membership, alternate membership of the Central Committee is more varied in its composition, and there are fewer institutional rules governing its membership list. Generally speaking, since

434-524: A specific office will gain a seat on the CC. If a CC member is transferred to a different post, they maintain their CC membership. For example, a Governor of Shandong who is transferred to a position of less significance does not lose his seat on the CC, neither will his successor gain a seat on the CC. This has created situations in which individuals who do not sit on the Central Committee assume provincial leadership positions. An individual already provisionally named to

496-441: 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

558-704: A year at a plenary session. The plenums typically open and close in the State Banquet Hall of the Great Hall of the People , with the working meetings of the plenum being held at the military run Jingxi Hotel in Beijing. The plenums of the Central Committee are the most important annually occurring event in Chinese politics . Normally, seven plenums are held over a five-year term of the Central Committee; two plenums are held at

620-419: 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". The Central Committee's role has varied throughout history. It was founded in 1927 as a successor organization to

682-453: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests , and on top leadership changes in its aftermath, such as the purge of then General Secretary Zhao Ziyang , were made by "party elders" and a small group of top leaders, without first convening the Central Committee. Zhao questioned the legality of his removal in his memoirs released in 2006. While Central Committee meetings do not usually serve as forums for substantive debate, they have sometimes 'fine-tuned'

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744-606: The 8th Plenum of the CCP Eighth Central Committee from August 2–16. The major topic of discussion was the Great Leap Forward . The Lushan Conference saw the political purge of the Defense Minister , Marshal Peng Dehuai , whose criticism of some aspects of the Great Leap Forward was seen as an attack on the political line of CCP Chairman Mao Zedong . The Conference also marked the first time since

806-520: The "Central Executive Committee" ( 中央执行委员会 ), a group of party leaders charged with executing party work during the pre-revolutionary days of the CCP. Over the next several decades it served to confirm the party leadership lineup and legitimize military, strategic, and foreign relations decisions of the party. In practice, power was concentrated in a small group of military and political leaders (the Secretariat or

868-542: The "epidemic of bragging" in the Great Leap Forward. Peng attributed the problems to " petty bourgeois fanaticism." For this reason, Mao extended the conference for more than ten days. On July 23, Mao showed Peng's letter to his comrades and asked them to express their views on the issue. Peng made no further substantive argument other than for the party to immediately withdraw from political initiatives in rural areas. Peng's position found no support among other conference attendees, as it amounted to "political suicide" for

930-792: 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

992-490: The 18th Party Congress, the Central Committee plenums in 2013 and 2014 were given significant media coverage, as they marked the beginning of another round of comprehensive economic and social reforms (2013) and legal reforms (2014), respectively. In 2016, a Central Committee plenum was held, focusing mainly on in-party discipline and supervision. This plenum also gained a significant media coverage in China and abroad. According to

1054-408: The 1980s onwards, an average of 62% of the membership of the outgoing Central Committee has been replaced at each party congress. Since most members are at least 50 years old when they enter the body, the mandatory retirement age essentially serves as a 'term limit' on the entire membership of the Central Committee, whereby no member or group of members could conceivably serve longer than three terms on

1116-451: The 1980s, alternate membership in the Central Committee is composed of officials of provincial-ministerial rank or sub-provincial (vice-minister) rank. They are selected based on a combination of experience and the institutions that they represent. Many are heads of provincial party departments or party chiefs of big cities. Prominent academics with no political experience and state-owned enterprise chief executives often hold alternate seats on

1178-476: The 1980s, the membership of the Central Committee has experienced rapid turnover, mostly due to the institutionalization of the system of promotions for party officials as well as an informally mandated retirement age, currently set at 65 for minister-level officials (which comprise the majority of the members of the Central Committee). The average age of members in the 18th Central Committee is 56.1 years. From

1240-517: The 8th CC) to cement decisions already made by Mao on launching the Cultural Revolution. Mao faced some opposition at the 11th Plenum but ultimately most delegates were goaded into ratifying Mao's decisions. Many members were politically disgraced or purged thereafter. The committee was then convened again in October 1968 (12th Plenum) to ratify the decision to expel then head of state Liu Shaoqi from

1302-409: The Central Committee can be called upon in the interim to make extremely far-reaching decisions, or at least legitimize a change in direction mandated by the Politburo or other party leaders. The Central Committee must also be theoretically convened to prepare for a National Congress; for example, to determine its dates, delegate selection, agenda, and so on. The Central Committee has the power to elect

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1364-584: The Central Committee have occasionally emerged as arenas in which there were substantive debates and decisions on party policy. An example of this was the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CCP Central Committee in 1978, at which China formally embarked on a project of economic reform . Deng Xiaoping also attempted to increase the level of "intra party democracy" in the 1980s by introducing so-called "more candidates than seats" election method ( Cha'e xuanju ). The Cha'e method meant that not everyone who

1426-575: The Central Committee. It also makes forming enduring political factions difficult. Chinese politics analyst Cheng Li noted that this makes the body much more fluid than most national legislatures, for which term limits do not generally apply. Lushan Conference The Lushan Conference was a meeting of the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held between July and August 1959. The CCP Politburo met in an "expanded session" ( Kuoda Huiyi ) between July 2 and August 1, followed by

1488-455: The Central Committee. Some alternate members therefore hold no other political positions. Younger alternate members are also generally seen to be "up-and-coming" national leaders. Though all nominations for the Central Committee are decided beforehand, since the 13th Party Congress in 1987, in the spirit of promoting "inner-party democracy", the number of candidates up for election for both full members and alternate members have been greater than

1550-522: The Central Committee: Occasionally officials of vice-ministerial rank could also hold membership on the Central Committee, though only in rare and exceptional circumstances. For example, Ma Xingrui , the party chief of Shenzhen (as of 2015), was a member of the 18th Central Committee. While institutional rules has, since the 1980s, played a major role in the selection of Central Committee members, it does not guarantee that holders of

1612-470: The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, the Central Committee is tasked with "carrying out the decisions of the National Congress, leading the work of the party, and representing the party internationally." The Central Committee is therefore technically the "party's highest organ of authority" when the National Congress is not in session. The National Congress is convened only once every five years, so

1674-670: The Department. The department oversees the interactions of the CCP with civic groups, chambers of commerce and industry groups, as well as party-building work in mixed-ownership and non-public enterprises. It additionally handles public petitions and grievances, and has a "unified leadership" over the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration . Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee is, formally,

1736-547: The General Secretary and the members of the Politburo, its Standing Committee, and the Central Military Commission. These elections take place in the form of confirmation votes; i.e., there is only one candidate, a delegate can choose to vote for or against or abstain for that candidate. In some instances write-in candidates may also be allowed. In practice, for important posts such as the General Secretary or

1798-420: The Great Leap Forward to various communist leaders, including Nikita Khruschev. In his view, the socioeconomic policies of the period undermined the economic development necessary to modernize the army. On his return to China in mid-June, Peng criticized the Great Leap Forward. Peng's criticism culminated in his "Letter of Opinion." On July 14, Peng wrote a private letter to Mao criticizing some elements of

1860-507: The Great Leap Forward. In the letter, he cautiously framed his words and did not deny the "great achievement" of Mao, but meanwhile showed his disapproval for elements like the "winds of exaggeration" (i.e., over-reporting of grain production), the communal dining, and also the establishment of commune militia , which he felt would undermine the strength of the People's Liberation Army . He expressed his "confusion" towards "rather large losses" and

1922-504: The Lushan Conference began, the leadership was divided on questions of how the crisis had developed and what the response going forward should be. Mao was critical of his own role in the failures of the Great Leap Forward. He described the backyard steel campaign he had promoted as a "great catastrophe" and criticized himself for pushing communization so fast. In a July speech before the Lushan Conference, Mao states, "The chaos caused

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1984-405: The Lushan Conference, Mao removed himself from the day-to-day workings of the party. Historian Maurice Meisner argues that Mao must have understood that Peng's criticisms were widely shared by the Party leadership and that Mao could not command sufficient support from the Central Committee to continue the radical policies of the Great Leap Forward, had he been so inclined. Mao himself summarized

2046-452: The Lushan Conference, Peng had become politically isolated and stripped from his position as Defence Minister, replaced by Marshal Lin Biao . The Lushan Plenum adopted a resolution denouncing "the anti-Party clique headed by Peng Duhai." In contrast to Peng, Mao's position was that peasant enthusiasm was positive because political development required mass momentum. Mao continued to believe that

2108-640: The Party Congress, and they in turn vote for the new Politburo, standing committee, and general secretary. The Central Committee has full members (委员 – weiyuan ) and alternate or candidate members (候补委员 – houbuweiyuan ). The practice of having "full" and "alternate" members is consistent with other Leninist parties in history, such as the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the Communist Party of Vietnam . Members are elected by National Congresses through

2170-455: The Party. At the 12th plenum, less than half the members actually attended, as many had fallen victim to the Cultural Revolution. In a letter to Mao "evaluating" the members of the Central Committee at the time, Kang Sheng wrote that some 70% of CC members were considered "traitors, spies, or otherwise politically unreliable". The Central Committee membership at the 9th Party Congress in April 1969

2232-528: The People's Republic of China, the Central Committee gradually transformed from a revolutionary organ to a governing one, though again the day-to-day work and most political power resided with a few leaders, most notably the Politburo, then de facto chaired by Liu Shaoqi , and the Secretariat, then under Deng Xiaoping. Although the Central Committee was required to convene at least once a year, it did not convene at all in 1951–53, 1960, 1963–65, and 1967. Informal and 'extraordinary' mechanisms were sometimes used for

2294-503: The Politburo Standing Committee, there is no known occasion since 1949 where the Central Committee voted against a candidate already vetted by the top party leadership in advance. The Central Committee also confirms membership of the Secretariat, the organ in charge of executing party policy, whose membership is determined through nomination by the Politburo Standing Committee. The Committee usually convenes at least once

2356-641: The Politburo), and, beginning at the Zunyi Conference in 1935, Mao held great power personally. Moreover, during the Second Sino-Japanese war and the Chinese Civil War between 1937 and 1949, the Central Committee rarely convened, partly because of the logistical difficulties of bringing together leading cadres involved in different theatres of war and agitation. Beginning in 1949 at the founding of

2418-458: The Politburo, the Politburo Standing Committee, and the General Secretary. The second plenum, held in February or March of the following year, typically approves a list of candidates for state positions, as well as a plan to overhaul Party and State organizations, which are then approved during a National People's Congress (NPC) session held immediately afterwards. The third plenum, generally held in

2480-478: The autumn of the year after the Party Congress, focuses on economic issues, and is generally the session when major economic and reform decisions are made and announced. The fifth plenum focuses on finalizing the upcoming five-year plan , which is then approved by the NPC in the following spring. The fourth and sixth plenums do not have a fixed theme, and usually focus on CCP ideology or Party building. The seventh plenum,

2542-467: The domain of a small group of elites at the very top of the party hierarchy. Since the 17th Party Congress, the Central Committee has seen an increase in the number of regional leadership figures. The 17th Central Committee formed with every province-level Party Secretary and Governor gaining a full seat on the Central Committee. The rise of regional party representation came at the expense of that of government ministries. Since Xi Jinping's rise to power at

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2604-458: The experiment of giving the peasantry a political role should be continued. His view was that initiatives like self-organizing agricultural tasks, self-managed schools, and cooperative medical services should continue wherever possible. Mao nonetheless agreed that specific objectives had to be made more realistic and that the absurd bureaucratic boasting regarding production quotas had to be stopped. Mao bitterly criticised Peng for being part of

2666-471: The founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 that disagreement over the direction of policy spilled into open conflict between party leaders. The conference's name is derived from the meeting place, a resort on Mount Lu in Jiujiang , China. The original objective of the conference was to review the events of the Great Leap Forward and solve practical issues brought forth by those events. When

2728-515: The handful of elites in favour of "inner-party democracy" involving bodies such as the Central Committee. However, the Beidaihe meetings resumed in July 2007, when political deliberation took place in anticipation of the 17th Party Congress ; the same Bedaihe retreat also took place in 2011 in anticipation of the 18th Party Congress . This indicated that important personnel and policy decisions continued to be

2790-486: The incumbent Politburo and its Standing Committee. Since the 1980s membership patterns in the Central Committee have gradually stabilized. For example, provincial governors and party secretaries are almost guaranteed a seat on the Central Committee. The primary difference between full members and alternate members is that full members have voting rights. Alternate members attend Central Committee plenary sessions, and can presumably voice their views on issues, but do not have

2852-672: The last held before the end of a Central Committee's term, focuses on preparations for the upcoming Party Congress. The Central Committee houses three important party departments: (1) the Organization Department , (2) the Publicity Department , and (3) the United Front Work Department . It has a secretariat which performs routine tasks including arranging leadership's schedules and document flows. Central Committee members are elected every five years during

2914-495: The number of available seats. Nominees for the Central Committee who receive the lowest number of votes from Party Congress delegates are thus unable to enter the Central Committee. At the 18th Party Congress, a total of 224 candidates stood for election for full membership for a total of 205 seats. A total of 190 candidates stood for election for a total of 171 alternate seats. This meant that 9.3% of full member candidates and 11.1% alternate member candidates were not elected. Since

2976-415: The number of votes received when they were elected at the previous Party Congress. Alternate members may be elevated to full members if a full member dies in office, resigns, or is removed from the body. Priority of ascension to full member status is given to the alternate member who received the highest number of votes in favour at the previous Party Congress. Membership changes, such as the expulsion of

3038-414: The party's former strength of coordinating peasant political power had now created a major obstacle. Mao Zedong also intended to use the conference to contain the "leftist tendency" ( zuoqing ) elements in the Great Leap Forward . In Spring 1959, PRC Defense Minister Peng Dehuai led a Chinese military delegation on a visit to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Peng expressed his displeasure with

3100-457: The party's norms had been violated. Zhou Xiaozhou , along with Huang Kecheng and Zhang Wentian , who lent their support to Peng Dehuai in questioning the wisdom of the Great Leap Forward , were also branded as traitors, stripped of their positions, and sent to re-education through labour . Li Rui , one of Mao's private secretaries, was also stripped of party membership and sent to a labor camp for refusing to denounce Peng. Not long after

3162-449: The party. For example, Zhou Enlai , normally a mediator between the left and right sides of the party, was extremely critical of Peng. Additionally, Peng's position would mean de facto realignment with Soviet approaches at a time when Mao had been trying to find an independent path in terms of both foreign and domestic policy approaches. By the time of the Plenum, which immediately followed

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3224-561: The policies agreed upon at the Politburo level. But the Central Committee does not, by convention, overturn policies decided at higher levels. The Central Committee is larger and has a somewhat more diverse ideological spectrum than the Politburo. Since its plenary sessions is a rare event that concentrates almost all of China's top leaders in one location, it could also be seen as a convenient venue for informal deal-making. Hu Jintao's administration (2002–2012) attempted to embrace collective leadership, as well as more "intra-party democracy"; Hu

3286-416: The production goals had been achieved. These behaviors were prompted by higher-level officials who overly emphasized production and addressed the peasants as "rural Stakhanovites ." The ensuing false statistics impeded central coordination of the economy. At Mount Lu, addressing these issues implicated a broader political tension over centralization and decentralization. As academic Alessandro Russo writes,

3348-482: The purposes of discussing party policy, for example, the Seven Thousand Cadres Conference in 1962, meant to be a summation of the lessons of the Great Leap Forward. Mao did not hold absolute power over the Central Committee, as evidenced by the debates surrounding the policies of the Great Leap Forward, as well as the economic policies of the early 1960s. However, Mao used Central Committee meetings as

3410-443: The right to vote. At party plenary sessions, members of the Politburo seats at the front of the auditorium or meeting hall, facing the rest of the Central Committee. Full members are ordered by protocol, and seated, according to " surname stroke order " ( xingshi bihua paiming ), an impartial ordering system that is roughly equivalent of alphabetizing the names. Alternate members follow a different protocol sequence: they are arranged by

3472-405: 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

3534-474: The year of the Party National Congress, another two held in the following year, and one held in each of the other three years. The first, second and seventh plenums generally deal with procedures around the five-yearly power transition process, containing no major policy announcements. The first plenum, held a day after the conclusion of a Party National Congress, elects the top leadership, including

3596-509: Was largely handpicked by Mao and a small group of radical allies. The decisions at the Congress were later deemed to be "wholly and absolutely wrong" by official party historians. Since economic reforms began in 1978, the Central Committee has usually been composed of the leading figures of the party, government, the provinces, and the military. In contrast to Party Congresses, which have always been essentially ceremonial exercises, full meetings of

3658-491: Was nominated would be elected to the Central Committee. Despite experimenting with power separation on a broad scale in the 1980s, including the separation of party and state leadership positions, real decision-making power continued to reside in the hands of a dozen or so party elites, including party elders that formed the Central Advisory Commission (later abolished). For instance, the decision to crack down on

3720-431: Was not a strong "core" figure in the same sense as Mao or Deng Xiaoping. The Central Committee thus gained more prominence as a bona fide consultation body. In 2003, Hu also cancelled the traditional August leadership retreat at the coastal town of Beidaihe , while giving more media coverage to the Central Committee plenums held in the fall. This was seen as an indication that Hu wanted to eschew informal decision-making by

3782-463: Was on a grand level and I take responsibility for it." Mao also defended the policies of the Great Leap Forward in general and communes in particular. A major specific focus of the Lushan Conference was the distortion created by false production reports. During the Great Leap Forward , lower bureaucratic levels were asked to fulfill unrealistic production quotas. Ignoring the actual conditions at even lower levels, officials frequently claimed that

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3844-414: Was subsequently dismissed and arrested. In September 1959, he was replaced by Lin Biao . As indicated by Mao in a September 1959 speech, Mao believed that Peng and others had gone "behind the back of our fatherland to collude with a foreign country." Although the criticism of Peng Dehuai resulted in a victory for Mao Zedong, it also led the leadership to conclude that he had been treated unfairly and that

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