Orders of precedence in China
Name Born Joined Party Former highest post ( s ) Retired
Jiang Zemin 1926 1946 General Secretary of the Communist Party of China President of the People 's Republic of China Chairman of the Central Military Commission 2005
Hu Jintao 1942 1964 General Secretary of the Communist Party of China President of the People 's Republic of China Chairman of the Central Military Commission 2013
Zhu Rongji 1928 1949 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Premier of the People 's Republic of China 2003
Li Ruihuan 1934 1959 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee 2003
Wu Bangguo 1941 1964 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee 2013
Wen Jiabao 1942 1965 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Premier of the People 's Republic of China 2013
Jia Qinglin 1940 1959 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee 2013
Zhang Dejiang 1946 1971 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee 2018
Yu Zhengsheng 1945 1964 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee 2018
Song Ping 1917 1937 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee 1992
Li Lanqing 1932 1952 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Vice Premier of the People 's Republic of China 2003
Zeng Qinghong 1939 1960 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee First Secretary of the CPC Central Secretariat Vice President of the People 's Republic of China 2008
Wu Guanzheng 1938 1962 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection 2007
Li Changchun 1944 1965 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee 2012
Luo Gan 1935 1960 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Affairs Committee 2007
He Guoqiang 1943 1966 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection 2012
Liu Yunshan 1947 1971 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee 2017
Zhang Gaoli 1946 1973 Member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee Vice Premier of the People 's Republic of China 2018
Order of precedence -- Living former members of the Politburo Standing Committee
Immediately following the 16th Party Congress , Jiang Zemin was ranked 2nd overall on the leadership protocol hierarchy , immediately after Hu Jintao . At the conclusion of the 18th Party Congress , when Hu Jintao retired as General Secretary , Jiang was ranked 2nd overall , after Xi Jinping , and Hu Jintao was ranked 3rd , after Jiang . Since 2013 , judging mostly based on the official obituary notices of various deceased party officials , Jiang and Hu seemed to have progressively moved `` lower '' on the protocol strata , first below all current members of the Politburo Standing Committee , and as of 2014 , behind all members of the sitting Politburo . [ 1 ] At major functions , Jiang and Hu sat immediately next to Xi Jinping , visually giving them prominence over the other Politburo Standing Committee members on television footage . However , in the official bulletins of the functions , the names of Jiang and Hu were announced after all sitting members of the Politburo . This convention was used at the National Day banquet held on September 30 , 2014 , [ 2 ] the 2015 China Victory Day Parade atop Tiananmen Gate , and the opening session of the 19th Party Congress in October 2017 . [ 3 ] Former Politburo Standing Committee members who were not `` in good standing '' in official party evaluations are not included in this list ; this includes those ousted from positions of power but not formally expelled from the party . For instance , Zhao Ziyang and Hua Guofeng were typically omitted from this list when they were alive . Zhou Yongkang , who was convicted on corruption charges in 2015 , was also removed from this list . Hu Qili is omitted from this list .
The Orders of precedence in China is the ranking of political leaders in China for the purposes of event protocol and to arrange the ordering of names in official news bulletins, both written and televised. It is also sometimes used to assess perceived level of political power. Although there is no formally published ranking, there is usually an established convention and protocol, and the relative positions of Chinese political figures can usually be deduced from the order in meetings and especially by the time and order in which figures are covered by the official media. Depending on the person and the time period, the hierarchy will vary accordingly. Since the 1980s, Chinese political positions have become increasingly institutionalized. However, part of the power Chinese leaders carry still derives from who they are, rather than what position they hold. Individuals can hold multiple top leadership titles but also be unable to claim to be the de facto ruler as was the case with Chairman Hua Guofeng, when paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was present. The traditional ranking system was based upon the hierarchical line of the politburo standing committee. The names on this list includes all those officially considered Party and State Leaders ().