"Party and state leaders" (Chinese: 党和国家领导人; Vietnamese: Lãnh đạo chủ chốt của Đảng và Nhà nước) is a governmental and political jargon currently used in political discourse of China, and a lesser extent of Vietnam, in reference to specific senior political leaders in those countries. The jargon is used in In both formal and colloquial contexts, and referred to a defined group of leaders in those countries.
In Chinese political discourse, "party and state leaders" refer to a limited group of individuals currently holding approximately 100 specific positions in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) that are classified into the top two ranks in the Civil service of China:
National-level principals, or colloquially "national leaders" (Chinese: 国家级正职 or 正国级) National-level deputies, or colloquially "national deputy-level leaders" (Chinese: 国家级副职 or 副国级)
Other usages
In Vietnamese political discourse the term refers to individuals holding, as of September 2025, five specific offices. While it remain a formal designation in the Government of Vietnam, the term has been gradually replaced by the colloquial term four pillars in day-to-day use since the early 2000s, which was further formally updated to the five pillars in September 2025.
The term has also been used in the past in China and Vietnam in references to top political leaders of the former Soviet Union.
Current qualified office holders The senior leaders of the following institutions qualify as party and state leaders: Senior leaders of the three key organs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee General Secretary of the Central Committee Politburo Standing Committee – members Politburo – members and alternate members Secretariat – secretaries Central Military Commission (of the CPP) – Chair and Vice Chairs Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – Secretary Senior leaders of the seven key institutions of the People's Republic of China (PRC) National People's Congress – Chair, Vice Chairs of the Standing Committee Presidency – President, Vice President State Council – Premier, Vice Premiers, State Councilors Central Military Commission (of the government) – Chair and Vice Chairs (rank: General/Admiral/Air Force General) National Supervisory Commission – Director (rank: Censor-General) Supreme People's Court – President (rank: Chief Justice) Supreme People's Procuratorate – Procurator-General (rank: Chief Procurator) Senior leaders of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference – Chair, Vice Chairs Currently, the officeholders of eight titles are qualified as national-level principals and the holder of ten additional titles are qualified as national-level deputies. Many of the titles have multiple positions, and a number of individuals hold multiple positions on the list. Approximately 70 individuals currently formally qualified as party and state leaders, holding among them approximately 100 specific positions. Of the office holders, 6 are women, 19 are not official members of the CCP.
National-level principals The officeholders of eight titles, (one with multiple positions) are formally classified as national-level principal. The position of national vice president is not among the offices classified as such, but the current vice president Han Zheng is granted the standing and privileges as a national-level principal leader due previous service in one of these offices. The current occupants of these offices are as follows: +OfficeEntityOffice holderConcurrent offices heldGeneral Secretary, Central CommitteePartyXi Jinping习近平Chair, Central Military CommissionState &PartyPresident of ChinaStatePremier, State CouncilStateLi Qiang李强Chair, National People's CongressStateZhao Leji赵乐际Chair, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference StateWang Huning王沪宁Standing Committee Members, Politburo(seven in total inclusive of four holding offices listed above)PartyCai Qi蔡奇First Secretary, CPP SecretariatDirector, General Office of the Central CommitteeDirector, Office of the General SecretaryDing Xuexiang丁薛祥Ranking Vice Premier, State CouncilLi Xi李希Secretary, Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline InspectionDirector, Central Leading Group for Inspection WorkVice President of China(not formally classified as National-level principal leader)StateHan Zheng韩正
National-level deputies Officeholders of the following offices qualify as national-level deputies and therefore considered among the party and state leaders of China.
Members, Politburo Secretaries, Secretariat of the CCP Vice Chairs,Central Military Commission Vice Chairpersons, Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Vice Premiers and State Councilors, State Council President of the Supreme People's Court Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CCPCC)
The following are the holders of positions of the Chinese Communist Party (elected or appointed around the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party held in October 2022, unless otherwise noted) and offices of the People's Republic of China (appointed around the subsequent 14th National People's Congress held in March 2023 unless otherwise noted) including those who have been formally removed from office or are currently under investigation. Qualifying OfficeEntityOffice holdersConcurrent offices held16 Members, Politburo(plus 7 national-level principal leaders listed above)(1 dismissed from office)PartyMa Xingrui 马兴瑞CCP Secretary of Xinjiang (2021)Wang Yi 王毅Director, Central Foreign Affairs Commission; Minister of Foreign Affairs (July 2023)Yin Li 尹力CCP Secretary of BeijingShi Taifeng 石泰峰Secretary, CCP Secretariat; Head, Central Organization Department (2023); Vice Chairperson (ranking), National Committee of CCPCCLiu Guozhong 刘国中Vice Premier, State CouncilLi Ganjie 李干杰Secretary, CCP Secretariat; Head, Central United Front Work DepartmentLi Shulei 李书磊Secretary, CCP SecretariatHead, Central Publicity DepartmentLi Hongzhong 李鸿忠 Vice Chair (ranking), Standing Committee of NPC Vice Chairman of the Central Military CommissionHe Lifeng 何立峰Vice Premier of China Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (2017/18)Zhang Guoqing 张国清Vice Premier of ChinaChen Wenqing 陈文清Secretary, CCP SecretariatSecretary, Central Political and Legal Affairs CommissionChen Jining 陈吉宁CCP Secretary of ShanghaiChen Min'er 陈敏尔 CCP Secretary of TianjinYuan Jiajun 袁家军CCP Secretary of ChongqingHuang Kunming 黄坤明 CCP Secretary of Guangdong2 Secretaries, Secretariat of the CCP(plus Cai Qi, classified as a national-level principal leader, and 4 secretaries who are Politburo members)PartyLiu Jinguo 刘金国Director of the National Supervisory Commission State Councilor; Minister of Public Security (2022)1 Vice Chair, Central Military Commission(plus vice chair Zhang Youxia, a Politburo member)State &Party Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (2025)13 Vice Chairpersons of the Standing Committee of NPC(plus ranking vice chairperson Li Hongzhong, a Politburo member)StateWang Dongming Xiao Jie 肖捷Zheng Jianbang Chair, Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (2022)Ding Zhongli 丁仲礼 Chair, China Democratic League (2017)Hao Mingjin 郝明金 Chair, China Democratic National Construction Association (2017)Cai Dafeng 蔡达峰 Chair, China Association for Promoting Democracy (2017)He Wei 何维 Chair, Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party (2022)Wu Weihua 武维华 Chair, Jiusan Society (2017)Tie Ning 铁凝Peng Qinghua 彭清华Zhang Qingwei Losang Jamcan Shohrat Zakir 2 State Councilors(plus 1 vice premier classified as a national leader, 3 vice premiers and 1 state councilor who are Politburo members, all listed above)(2 State Councilors dismissed from office)State Minister of National DefenseWu Zhenglong 吴政隆Secretary-General of the State CouncilShen Yiqin 谌贻琴President, All-China Women's FederationQin Gang 秦剛 Minister of Foreign Affairs (2022)President of the Supreme People's CourtStateZhang Jun 张军Procurator-General of the Supreme People's ProcuratorateStateYing Yong 应勇22 Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(plus one ranking vice chairperson Shi Taifeng, a member of the Politburo)StateHu Chunhua 胡春华Shen Yueyue 沈跃跃Wang Yong 王勇Zhou Qiang 周强Pagbalha Geleg Namgyai (Not member of the CCP officially)Chair, Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the CCPCC (1993)11th Qamdo Galden Jampaling Monastery Pagbalha Hutuktu of Tibetan Buddhism (1942)Edmund Ho Hau-wah (Not member of the CCP officially)Leung Chun-ying (Not member of the CCP officially)Bagatur 巴特尔 Su Hui 苏辉 Chairwoman of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (2018)Shao Hong 邵鸿 (Jiusan Society)Gao Yunlong 高云龙 (China Democratic National Construction Association)Chen Wu 陈武Mu Hong 穆虹Xian Hui 咸辉Wang Dongfeng Secretary-General of the National Committee of the CPPCCJiang Xinzhi 姜信治Jiang Zuojun 蒋作君 Chair, China Zhi Gong Party (2022)He Baoxiang 何报翔 (Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang)Wang Guangqian 王光谦 (China Democratic League)Qin Boyong 秦博勇 (China Democratic National Construction Association)Zhu Yongxin 朱永新 (China Democratic League)Yang Zhen 杨震 (Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party)
Historical qualifying offices In addition to the holders of the above office, historically, members of the standing committee of the Central Advisory Commission (existed between 1982 and 1992) were considered Party and State leaders. The 20 military leaders who were conferred titles of "Marshal of the People's Republic" and "Grand General of the People's Liberation Army" in 1955 were all considered former Party and State leaders when they were alive.
Notes
See also Order of precedence in China List of leaders of the People's Republic of China List of current Chinese provincial leaders
References