Heads of state, government and party of China
Heads of state and government of China from the founding of the Republic in 1912 to the present, together with the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party that has ruled the People’s Republic, grouped by regime. Where rival governments coexisted, such as Beijing and Guangzhou, the Nationalists and the soviets, or Chongqing and the collaborationist regime in Nanjing, each is listed separately.
Nanjing Provisional Government (1912)
After the Xinhai Revolution, delegates of the revolutionary provinces elected Sun Yat-sen provisional president in December 1911, and the Republic of China was proclaimed in Nanjing on 1 January 1912. Sun agreed to hand the post to Yuan Shikai in return for the Qing emperor’s abdication and tendered his resignation the day after it. There was no premier in this period.
Beiyang government (1912–1928)
The government run from Beijing by Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang warlords who followed him, internationally recognised as the government of China. From 1914 to 1916 a Secretary of State replaced the premier. Regency cabinets, in which the premier led the cabinet and exercised the president’s powers while the presidency was vacant (1922, 1923, 1924, 1926–1927), are not listed again among heads of state but only among heads of government. Acting premiers are listed as they appear in the English Wikipedia list.
Guangzhou government (1917–1925)
In 1917 Sun Yat-sen set up the Constitutional Protection Military Government in Guangzhou, in defence of the Provisional Constitution discarded after Yuan Shikai’s death, and became its generalissimo. When the southwestern warlords replaced the post with a seven-man directorate in 1918 (Sun, Cen Chunxuan, Tang Shaoyi, Wu Tingfang, Tang Jiyao, Lu Rongting and Lin Baoyi), Sun withdrew. He returned as extraordinary president in 1921 and as generalissimo again in 1923, leading the reorganisation of the Kuomintang and the First United Front.
- 1917.09.10–1918.05.04 Sun Yat-sen Generalissimo of the Constitutional Protection Military Government resigned in protest at the reorganisation of the military government
- 1918.07.05–1920.10.24 Cen Chunxuan Chairman of the Directorate senior member of the seven-man directorate
- 1921.05.05–1922.06.16 Sun Yat-sen Extraordinary President driven from Guangzhou by Chen Jiongming’s revolt
- 1923.03.02–1925.03.12 Sun Yat-sen Generalissimo of the Army and Navy died in office
Leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (1921–)
The party’s top post passed from Secretary of the Central Bureau to Chairman of the Central Executive Committee, General Secretary, Chairman of the Politburo and Chairman of the Central Committee, and from 1982 was again the General Secretary. Li Lisan in 1930 and Wang Ming in 1931 held real power whatever their titles, and after 1978 the paramount leader Deng Xiaoping led not as party head but as Chairman of the Central Military Commission. This track lists the holders of the top party post.
- 1921.07.23–1927.08.07 Chen Duxiu Secretary of the Central Bureau → Chairman of the Central Executive Committee → General Secretary resigned July 1927; removed at the 7 August conference
- 1927.08.07–1928.07.19 Qu Qiubai Member of the Provisional Politburo Standing Committee (de facto leader)
- 1928.07.01–1931.06.24 Xiang Zhongfa Chairman of the Politburo arrested and executed
- 1931.09–1935.01.17 Bo Gu Head of the Provisional Centre → General Secretary acting until January 1934
- 1935.01.17–1943.03.20 Zhang Wentian General Secretary
- 1943.03.20–1976.09.09 Mao Zedong Chairman of the Politburo → Chairman of the Central Committee Chairman of the Central Committee from June 1945; died in office
- 1976.10.07–1981.06.28 Hua Guofeng Chairman of the Central Committee
- 1981.06.29–1987.01.15 Hu Yaobang Chairman of the Central Committee → General Secretary General Secretary after the chairmanship was abolished in 1982
- 1987.01.15–1989.06.24 Zhao Ziyang General Secretary acting until November 1987
- 1989.06.24–2002.11.15 Jiang Zemin General Secretary
- 2002.11.15–2012.11.15 Hu Jintao General Secretary
- 2012.11.15–present Xi Jinping General Secretary
Nationalist Government (1925–1948)
Founded by the Kuomintang in Guangzhou in 1925, the National Government moved to Nanjing after the Northern Expedition and became the national government in 1928. From October 1928 the President of the Executive Yuan headed the government under the five-yuan system. After Chiang Kai-shek stepped down in 1931 the chairmanship became a nominal post held by Lin Sen, while real power lay with Chiang as chairman of the Military Affairs Commission. Members of the standing committee in the periods without a chairman, including the 1927 split between Wuhan and Nanjing, are not listed.
Chinese Soviet Republic (1931–1937)
The soviet state founded by the Chinese Communist Party at Ruijin, Jiangxi, in November 1931. Mao Zedong chaired both the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars but lost real power after the party centre moved to the soviet area, and in February 1934 the council chairmanship passed to Zhang Wentian. After the Long March it moved to northern Shaanxi, and under the Second United Front it became the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region government in September 1937.
Wang Jingwei regime (1940–1945)
The collaborationist regime set up in Japanese-occupied Nanjing in March 1940 by Wang Jingwei, deputy leader of the Kuomintang, who had left Chongqing calling for peace with Japan. It used the same name and institutions as the Chongqing National Government but was recognised only by Japan and its allies. It dissolved on Japan’s surrender in August 1945, and Chen Gongbo was executed as a traitor.
Constitutional Republic of China (1948–, on Taiwan from 1949)
The presidential system began in 1948 under the 1947 constitution. Defeated in the civil war, the Kuomintang government moved to Taipei at the end of 1949, and since then it has governed only Taiwan and nearby islands. Martial law was lifted in 1987, and the president has been directly elected since 1996.
People’s Republic of China (1949–)
Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic on 1 October 1949 as Chairman of the Central People’s Government, and the 1954 constitution created the posts of state chairman and premier of the State Council. After Liu Shaoqi’s fall the chairmanship was exercised by deputies and then abolished by the 1975 constitution; in the interval the chairmen of the NPC Standing Committee, Zhu De and Ye Jianying, acted as head of state. The 1982 constitution restored the post, and since 1993 the party general secretary has held it.