Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party
Leader of the Chinese Communist Party between 1945 and 1982
The chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The position was established at the 8th National Congress in 1945 and abolished at the 12th National Congress in 1982, being replaced by the general secretary. Offices with the name Chairman of the Central Executive Committee and Chairman of the Central Committee existed in 1922–1923 and 1928–1931, respectively.
History
Background
Following the establishment of the CCP, its inaugural leader, Chen Duxiu, held various positions including secretary of the Central Bureau, chairman of the Central Executive Committee (Chinese: 中央执行委员会委员长), and general secretary of the Central Committee. From January 11 to 22, 1925, the 4th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party issued 11 resolutions, including modifications to the CCP constitution, to succinctly encapsulate the revolutionary experiences acquired during the First United Front. The Chairman of the Central Executive Committee was reappointed as General Secretary, and Chen Duxiu was elected as General Secretary of the Central Committee and Director of the Central Organization Department.
In June 1935, during the Red Army's Long March, a debate emerged on the army's subsequent path of march after the Red First Front Army and the Red Fourth Front Army convened in Maogong. Mao Zedong directed a segment of the Red First Front Army northward to Shaanxi, whereas Zhang Guotao commanded the Red Fourth Front Army southward to Sichuan. On October 5, 1935, Zhang Guotao established a distinct "Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party" (historically referred to as the "Second Central Committee") in Zhuomudiao, Markang County, Sichuan. Zhang Guotao was designated as the "Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party", marking the initial appearance of the title "Central Committee Chairman" within the CCP. However, under the influence of the Communist International (Comintern) and the CCP's Central Committee, Zhang Guotao was compelled to dissolve his "Second Central Committee".
The public source identifies “Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party” as leader of the Chinese Communist Party between 1945 and 1982. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Chairman, Chinese and Communist.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2708520. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1945, 1982, 1922 and 1923.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.