Recently The Paper, a Shanghai based news portal, reported that there are stringent protocols about the sequential order in which Communist leaders are mentioned in news reports, and that such protocols are not officially acknowledged.
The commonly used term, “Party and State leaders,” in news reports is based on the Civil Servant Law of the People’s Republic of China, Article 16, which divides the posts of civil servants into the category of leading posts and non-leading posts. The top levels of leading posts are chiefs at the state level and deputies at the state level. “Party and State leaders” refers to the chiefs and deputies at the state level.
“Party and State leaders” include the following Communist Party officials: Central Committee General Secretary, Politburo Standing Committee members, Politburo members, Secretariat of the Central Committee, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
“Party and State leaders” include the following state leaders: President and Vice President of China, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Premier, Vice Premiers, State Council members, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People’s Republic of China.
Also included in the term “Party and State leaders” are President of the Supreme People’s Court and the Procurators-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
It is common that one person holds multiple positions, so the actual number of “Party and State leaders” is lower than the total number of positions. Currently, the total number of Party and State leaders is about 70.
There are stringent protocols about the sequential order in which Communist leaders are mentioned in news reports. No official documents are available for the public on this matter. Thus, people must figure it out from the news reports.
Source: The Paper reprinted by sina.com, October 9, 2014
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