Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party

The Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, formally known as the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and known as the Central Bureau before 1927, is a group of now 25 people who oversee the Communist Party of China (CPC). Unlike politburos (political bureaus) of other Communist parties, power within the politburo is centralized in the Politburo Standing Committee, a smaller group of Politburo members.

Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China 中国共产党中央政治局
Leadership
Status	Executive CPC body between the Standing Committee and Central Committee, Communist Party of China
Leader of the Party	Xi Jinping, General Secretary
1st-ranked member	Xi Jinping
Elected by	the Central Committee
Responsible to	the Central Committee
Seats	25
Meeting place
Huairen Hall, Zhongnanhai Beijing, China[1]

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The Politburo is nominally elected by the Central Committee. In practice, however, scholars of Chinese elite politics believe that the Politburo is a self-perpetuating body, with new members of both the Politburo and its Standing Committee chosen through a series of deliberations by current Politburo members and retired Politburo Standing Committee members. The current and former Politburo members conduct a series of informal straw polls to determine the group's level of support for each new candidate's membership in the Politburo. The process for selecting the new Politburo begins with a closed door meeting by the incumbent Politburo Standing Committee in Beidaihe in the summer before the Party National Congress convenes.[2][3]

The power of the Politburo resides largely in the fact that its members generally simultaneously hold positions within the People's Republic of China state positions and with the control over personnel appointments that the Politburo and Secretariat have. In addition, some Politburo members hold powerful regional positions. How the Politburo works internally is unclear, but it appears that the full Politburo meets once a month and the standing committee meets weekly. This is believed to be much more infrequent than the former Soviet Politburo had met. The agenda for the meetings appears to be controlled by the General Secretary and decisions are made by consensus rather than by majority vote.[4]

The Politburo was eclipsed by the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in the early 1980s under Hu Yaobang,[5] but has re-emerged as a dominant force after Hu's ousting in 1987.