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The meaning of 'leadership core' in the Chinese Communist Party and the political status of Xi Jinping(習近平)

  • 중앙사론
  • 2016, (44), pp.385-423
  • Publisher : Institute for Historical Studies at Chung-Ang University
  • Research Area : Humanities > History

Ahn Chi-Young 1

1인천대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The ‘leadership core’ status in the Chinese leadership was raised by Deng Xiaoping in 1989. China has transformed its leadership system into a collective leadership system as a result of its reflection on the Cultural Revolution after the reform, but it has raised the 'leadership core' as the center of authority to supplement the limits of the decentralized collective leadership system in the process of succession to a new generation. Therefore, the ‘leadership core’ is stronger than the "primus inter pares" of the collective leadership system, but is restricted by the collective leadership system itself. The collective leadership system and the "leadership core" is an institutional mechanism designed for the dual purpose of prevention of power monopoly by individuals and efficient exercise of power. In this regard, the main direction of China's political system reform after the reform was to form a stable succession system in which periodic personnel changes are made. To this end, the CCP created formal and informal institutions and practices such as the term limit and the age rule, and formed the promotion system and succession system of cadre including top leadership. The succession after Jiang was made by such a system, and the granting of ‘leadership core’ status to Xi Jinping was the result of such institutional mechanism. For that reason, the political status of Xi Jinping is limited by such institutional mechanisms.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.