Orders of precedence in the People's Republic of China

The Orders of precedence in the People's Republic of China is the ranking of political leaders in China, by order of presumed 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 of Chinese leaders carry still derive 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; however, "special" cases do arise as it is the case with Jiang Zemin and the 4th Generation leaders. Jiang, although retired from the politburo and the central committee, was nonetheless ranked number two for being the all-powerful Chairman of the Central Military Commission until his resignation on September 19, 2004.

The names on this list includes all those officially considered "Party and State Leaders" (Chinese: 党和国家领导人).

The Order of Precedence has gradually become normalized as the institutions of the Communist Party and the People's Republic became more established and stable. Internal publications and official media adhere to strict ranking protocol when reporting news items or public announcements that involve multiple leaders. Similarly, the order is strictly adhered to when seating leaders at official meetings and functions.

Often, state media news programs, such as Xinwen Lianbo, overlook the actual importance of the story attached to each leader. Rather the news order is determined by political ranking alone. For instance, if a higher-ranked leader is chairing a routine meeting, while a lower-ranked leader is visiting an earthquake disaster zone, the routine meeting will take precedence over the disaster in the order that they are reported.

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