Leader of the Chinese Communist Party

[1] The last exception to this rule is Jiang Zemin, who was elected at the 4th Plenary Session of the 13th Central Committee in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.

[2] Currently, to be nominated for the office of general secretary, one has to be a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, the top decision body.

[3] Despite breaching the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, several individuals (who are not included in the list) have been de facto leaders of the CCP without holding formal positions of power.

[4] Mao was reckoned as the CCP's actual leader from the Long March onward before formally becoming Chairman in 1943.

Beginning in the 1980s, the CCP leadership desired to prevent a single leader from rising above the party, as Chairman Mao had done.