This report provides a concise, chart- and table-based introduction to China's political institutions and current leaders. The report is intended to assist Members and their staffs seeking to understand where political institutions or individuals fit within the broader Chinese political system and to identify which Chinese officials are responsible for specific portfolios. The information may be useful for Members and staff visiting China, hosting visitors from China, preparing for China-related hearings, or drafting China-related legislation. For a detailed discussion of the Chinese political system, see CRS Report R41007, Understanding China's Political System , by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]. China's Communist Party, which dominates the Chinese political system, convened its 18 th National Congress in November 2012. At the Congress and a meeting immediately following it, the Party elected a new leadership to five-year terms ending in 2017. Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Party's Central Military Commission, making him China's top leader for what is expected to be the next decade. The first session of the 12 th National People's Congress in March 2013 produced new leaders for the legislature, the State, the judiciary, the prosecutor's office, the State military commission, and other bodies. All such leaders were appointed to five-year terms ending in 2018. On this occasion, Xi Jinping assumed an additional post, as State President. A parallel meeting produced a new leadership for a high-profile political advisory body. The charts included in this report reflect the structure of the Chinese leadership that emerged from those Party, legislature, and advisory body meetings. All charts in this report were created by CRS. All personal names are listed in Chinese style, with family names preceding given names. China's current state constitution was adopted in 1982 and subsequently amended four times. Its third chapter, entitled "Structure of the State," describes China's unicameral legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC) , as "the highest organ of state power." According to the state constitution, the NPC's role includes "supervising" the work of four other political bodies. They are listed below. The State Council . The state constitution describes it as "the highest organ of state administration"; it oversees the state bureaucracy and manages day-to-day administration of the country. The State Central Military Commission . The state constitution says it "directs the armed forces of the country." The Supreme People's Court . The state constitution calls it "the highest judicial organ." The Supreme People's Procuratorate . It is China's top prosecutor's office. This political power structure is illustrated in Figure 1 . The Communist Party of China is not mentioned in Chapter 3 of the state constitution, although Communist Party leadership is mentioned in passing five times in the state constitution's preamble. The Communist Party's own constitution provides more detail about Party leadership of the political system, the economy, and society at large, stating that "the Party commands the overall situation and coordinates the efforts of all quarters, and the Party must play the role as the core of leadership among all other organizations at corresponding levels." The Party constitution explicitly states that the Communist Party "persists in its leadership over the People's Liberation Army and other armed forces of the people." The Party exercises that leadership through a Party Central Military Commission . It, rather than the State Central Military Commission, commands China's armed forces; the State Military Commission, which has identical membership to the Party Central Military Commission, is believed to exist in name only. In the Party constitution, Party leadership of the legislature, the State Council, the courts, and the prosecutor's office is not explicitly stated, but is implied. In practice, the Party nominates the leaders of all four bodies and operates Party committees within each of them. The courts and prosecutors' offices, the police, and some ministries report directly to Party Central Committee commissions and departments. Figure 2 provides an approximate illustration of China's power structure as currently implemented, with the Communist Party in charge. With 85 million dues-paying members, just over 6% of China's population of 1.35 billion, the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the largest political party in the world. As noted above, it is China's dominant political institution, exercising leadership over the entire political system. The Communist Party constitution requires the Party to hold a national congress every five years. The most recent congress, the 18th, was held in November 2012. At each Congress, delegates elect a new Central Committee in a modestly competitive process: the Party leadership nominates approximately 10% more candidates than available positions. The current Central Committee is composed of 205 full members and 171 alternate members. They include 33 women (8.8% of the full 376-member Central Committee) and 39 ethnic minorities (10.4%). Each meeting of the Central Committee is known as a plenum. At its first plenum following a Party Congress, the Central Committee elects from among its members a 25-person Politburo , a more elite Politburo Standing Committee , which currently has seven members, and a General Secretary , who serves as China's top leader and who is required to be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. These elections are believed to be non-competitive, with the outgoing Party leadership nominating only as many candidates as positions available. According to the Party constitution, the Standing Committee then nominates members of the Party Secretariat , which manages the daily operations of the Politburo and its Standing Committee and oversees Party Central Committee departments and commissions. Members of the Secretariat are subject to endorsement by the Central Committee. The Members of all the Party leadership bodies are elected or endorsed for five-year-long terms, until the next Party Congress. The top officials in all non-Party institutions routinely hold concurrent Party posts, although they often do not publicize them. Party committees are embedded in the State Council, ministries under the State Council, the legislature, the courts, prosecutors' offices, state-owned enterprises, and all other public institutions, such as universities and hospitals, as well as in most private companies and many non-governmental organizations. At the sub-national level, provinces, counties, and townships all have a Party committee and a parallel people's government, with the Party Secretary of the Party committee serving as the geographic unit's top leader. The Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) serves as China's most senior decision-making body. The Party constitution requires that Party committees at all levels of the Chinese political system operate according to "the principle of combining collective leadership with individual responsibility based on division of work." Accordingly, each of the seven members of the PSC shoulders primary responsibility for a specific portfolio. The Party General Secretary serves concurrently as Chairman of the Party and State Central Military Commissions, which have identical memberships, and as State President. He also oversees foreign policy and, according to the Party constitution, has responsibility for convening Standing Committee and larger Politburo meetings and "presiding over" the work of the Party Secretariat. The second-ranked PSC member serves as Premier of the State Council, which manages the state bureaucracy. He is effectively China's top economic official. The third-ranked PSC member serves as Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's unicameral legislature. The fourth-ranked PSC member serves as chairman of a political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee. He is responsible for outreach to non-Communist groups, such as China's eight minor political parties, all of which pledge loyalty to the Communist Party, and state-sanctioned religious associations. The fifth-ranked PSC member heads the Party Secretariat, which oversees the Party bureaucracy. He also has responsibility for ideology and propaganda. The sixth-ranked PSC member heads the Party's Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission (CDIC), which polices the Party's ranks for corruption and other forms of malfeasance. The seventh-ranked PSC member serves as the top-ranked State Council vice premier and assists the Premier with his duties. The collective leadership principle is generally understood to mean that the General Secretary must win consensus from his Standing Committee colleagues for major decisions. Since 1997, China has evolved a set of age limits for top Party offices, although it is unclear if these are norms or rules. At the last three Party Congresses, in 2002, 2007, and 2012, no one older than 67 was appointed to a new term on the Politburo Standing Committee or the broader Politburo. Five of the seven Politburo Standing Committee members (all except Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang) and 6 of the 18 regular Politburo members will be over the age of 67 by the time the 19 th Party Congress is scheduled to be held in 2017, and thus are expected to retire then. Barring unforeseen developments, Xi and Li are expected to be elected to new terms in 2017, retiring in 2022. Party and state leaders are limited to two five-year terms in the same position. The full 25-member Politburo (or "Political Bureau") includes the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee plus 18 regular members. Members whose primary area of responsibility is the Communist Party are the greatest in number, followed by members whose primary area of responsibility is the State, then the provinces, the military, the National People's Congress, and the political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Among the members whose primary area of responsibility is the Party, three preside over particularly sensitive portfolios, each considered by the Party to be crucial to maintaining Party rule. They are listed below.