Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)

The chairman of the Central Military Commission is the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP) and the Militia. The officeholder is additionally vested with the command authority over China's nuclear arsenals.

Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China
中国共产党中央军事委员会主席 中华人民共和国中央军事委员会主席
Emblem of the Chinese Communist Party
National Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Incumbent Xi Jinping since 15 November 2012 (party commission) 14 March 2013 (state commission)
Central Military Commission
Style	Chairman (主席) (informal) Comrade (同志) (formal)
Type	Commander-in-chief
Status	National-level official
Residence	Zhongnanhai
Seat	"August 1st Building", Beijing
Nominator	Party Central Committee (party commission) Presidium of the National People's Congress (state commission)
Appointer	Party Central Committee (party commission) National People's Congress (state commission)
Term length	Five years, renewable
Inaugural holder	Zhang Guotao (party commission) Mao Zedong (state commission)
Formation	December 1925; 99 years ago (1925-12) (party commission) October 1949; 75 years ago (1949-10) (state commission)
Deputy	Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission
Website	Chairmanship

Chairman of the Central Military Commission
Simplified Chinese	中央军事委员会主席
Traditional Chinese	中央軍事委員會主席
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí
Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China
Simplified Chinese	中国共产党和中华人民共和国中央军事委员会主席
Traditional Chinese	中國共產黨和中華人民共和國中央軍事委員會主席
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng hé Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí
Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China
Simplified Chinese	中国共产党中央军事委员会主席
Traditional Chinese	中國共產黨中央軍事委員會主席
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí
Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China
Simplified Chinese	中华人民共和国中央军事委员会主席
Traditional Chinese	中華人民共和國中央軍事委員會主席
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì Zhǔxí

There are technically two offices with the same name, including the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) CMC and chairman of the People's Republic of China (PRC) CMC. However, under the arrangement of "one institution with two names", they function as one office. The officeholder is usually the CCP general secretary; this grants significant political power as the only member of the Politburo Standing Committee with direct responsibilities for the armed forces. According to both the CCP constitution and the state constitution, the chairman assumes overall responsibility over the work of the CMC. The office confers military ranks, though regulations stipulate that no military rank shall be conferred on the chairman themselves.

The current chairman is Xi Jinping, who took office as the Chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission on 15 November 2012, and as the Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission on 14 March 2013.

Election

According to the Constitution, the state CMC chairman is responsible to the National People's Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee. The state CMC chairman is officially nominated by the Presidium of the NPC during a session and approved by the delegations of the NPC, and its term of office is the same as the NPC. According to the Party constitution, the Party CMC chairman is officially elected by the CCP's Central Committee.

List of chairmen

Chinese Communist Party

The following have held the position of chair of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party:

No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Term of office
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Head of the Military Department
1		Zhang Guotao (1897–1979)	December 1925	September 1926	9 months
Secretary of the Central Military Commission
2		Zhou Enlai (1898–1976)	September 1926	October 1928	2 years, 1 month
Head of the Military Department
3		Yang Yin (1892–1929)	October 1928	September 1929	11 months
(2)		Zhou Enlai (1898–1976)	September 1929	March 1930	6 months
Secretary of the Central Military Commission
4		Guan Xiangying (1902–1946)	March 1930	August 1930	5 months
(2)		Zhou Enlai (1898–1976)	August 1930	June 1931	10 months
Head of the Military Department
5		Li Fuchun (1900–1975)	June 1931	January 1932	7 months
Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Soviet Republic
6		Xiang Ying (c. 1895–1941)	January 1932	October 1932	9 months
7		Zhu De (1886–1976)	October 1932	December 1936	4 years, 2 months
8		Mao Zedong (1893–1976)	December 1936	1 October 1949	12 years, 10 months
Abolished 1 October 1949 – 8 September 1954
Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party
(8)		Mao Zedong (1893–1976)	8 September 1954	9 September 1976 †	22 years, 1 day
9		Hua Guofeng (1921–2008)	7 October 1976	28 June 1981	4 years, 264 days
10		Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997)	28 June 1981	9 November 1989	8 years, 134 days
11		Jiang Zemin (1926–2022)	9 November 1989	19 September 2004	14 years, 315 days
12		Hu Jintao (born 1942)	19 September 2004	15 November 2012	8 years, 57 days
13		Xi Jinping (born 1953)	15 November 2012	Incumbent	12 years, 155 days

People's Republic of China

The following have held the position of chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China:

No.	Portrait	Name (birth–death)	Term of office
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Chairman of the People's Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People's Government
1		Mao Zedong (1893–1976)	1 October 1949	27 September 1954	4 years, 361 days
Chairman of the People's Republic of China & Chairman of the National Defense Council
(1)		Mao Zedong (1893–1976)	27 September 1954	27 April 1959	4 years, 212 days
2		Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969)	27 April 1959	31 October 1968	9 years, 187 days
Vacant 31 October 1968 – 17 January 1975
Abolished 17 January 1975 – December 1982
Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China
3		Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997)	6 June 1983	19 March 1990	6 years, 284 days
4		Jiang Zemin (1926–2022)	19 March 1990	8 March 2005	14 years, 354 days
5		Hu Jintao (born 1942)	8 March 2005	14 March 2013	8 years, 6 days
6		Xi Jinping (born 1953)	14 March 2013	Incumbent	12 years, 36 days

See also

• List of leaders of the People's Republic of China
• Supreme Military Command of the People's Republic of China
• Paramount leader

References

1. Liu, Zhen (18 October 2022). "What is China's Central Military Commission and why is it so powerful?". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
2. Saunders et al. 2019, p. 521.
3. "Constitution of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
4. Panyue, Huang (27 October 2022). "Full text of Constitution of Communist Party of China - China Military". China Military. Xinhua News Agency. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
5. "Regulations on the Military Ranks of Officers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army". National People's Congress. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
6. "Organic Law of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2023.

Works cited

Saunders, Phillip C.; Ding, Arthur S.; Scobell, Andrew; Yang, Andrew N.D.; Joel, Wuthnow, eds. (2019). Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press. ISBN 978-1070233420.