General Office of the Chinese Communist Party
The General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as the Central Office (), is an office directly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in charge of providing support for the Central Committee and its Politburo, including codifying intra-party regulations, conducting policy research and providing administrative support. The Director of the General Office currently serves as the second-ranked secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party. The office is responsible for drafting and circulating party directives and internal memos, as well as  the classification of party information. It is in charge of arranging logistics for major meetings of the Central Committee and its Politburo. It is responsible for preparing meeting agendas, recording and filing meeting minutes, and distribution of communications to meeting stakeholders. Although its business is often not overtly political, its Directors have historically had close connections with the Party's top leaders, and usually join the Politburo or the Secretariat after their period leading the General Office. The Director of the General office has been informally referred to as the ""Danei Zongguan"" (), roughly translated as "the gatekeeper". While the Director  of the General Office is sometimes referred to as an analogue to the party General Secretary's "Chief of Staff", the General Secretary also maintains a personal staff as part of the Office of the General Secretary, whose director may also, but not necessarily, coterminously hold the position of Director of the General Office. The General Office's establishment date is uncertain, though it existed by 1942 as Li Fuchun was its chief at that time; previously, its functions were exercised by the Organization Department or technical secretariats.