The Central Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党中央政治局) is a leadership organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) comprised of 25 of its senior-most figures.
The Politburo has long been the most powerful leadership organ within the CCP, although the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CCP temporarily surpassed it in influence during Hu Yaobang’s (胡耀邦) time as CCP General Secretary from 1982 to 1987.
The CCP Politburo is distinct from the politburos of other Communist parties in its appointment of a Politburo Standing Committee, which is a smaller, more exclusive group of leaders.
While membership of the Politburo is officially determined by the Central Committee, outside observers speculate that the Politburo and its Standing Committee are in fact responsible for selecting their own membership via the straw polling of current and former Politburo members.
The Politburo Standing Committee convenes a closed door meeting at Beidaihe in the summer before the convening of the bi-decennial CCP National Congress, in order to commence the selection process.
The full Politburo is believed to convene on a monthly basis, with the Standing Committee meeting once per week.
The General Secretary is