Cai Qi was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, but also served as the director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

(Reuters file photo)

[Central News Agency] Some comments point out that Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, is also the director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, which is quite rare in the history of the CCP; another newspaper pointed out that Cai Qi may also serve as the director of the Central Office of National Security, and his status is equivalent to that of Wang Dongxing in the early years of the CCP. .

Sing Tao Daily published an article today stating that Cai Qi, who became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, concurrently served as the director of the General Office of the Central Committee after the National People's Congress and the "two sessions" of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Quite rare in the history of the CCP.

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A similar situation can be traced back to the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1956, when the party chairman was Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, served as the general secretary of the Central Secretariat (equivalent to the current director of the Central Office).

After Mao Zedong's death, Wang Dongxing, director of the Central Office, cooperated with his "successor" Hua Guofeng to launch a palace coup and arrest the "Gang of Four".

After Deng Xiaoping returned, Wang Dongxing was gradually marginalized. In December 1978, he was first dismissed as the director of the Central Office, which shows that this position plays a pivotal role.

The article believes that the appointment of the Politburo Standing Committee member as the "General Manager" is a major reform of the CCP's leadership system and strengthens the pivotal role of the Central Office in the party affairs system.

Cai Qi, who is also the secretary of the Central Secretariat, is also in charge of propaganda and organization. To be precise, his current status is equivalent to "Secretary-General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China". This also indirectly enhances the leadership's authority. There is a member of the Standing Committee accompanying them.

The article believes that, to a certain extent, this is equivalent to restoring the "party chairman system" in disguise. Although there is no name of the party chairman, there is the reality of the party chairman.

In addition, Ming Pao pointed out in a commentary article that Cai Qi's status today is equivalent to that of Wang Dongxing back then, and he may even become the head of the national security system.

The article stated that since the establishment of the National Security Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2014, the director of the office under its jurisdiction has been concurrently served by the director of the Central Office. Cai Qi recently accompanied Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Russia, and he corresponds to the role of the vice chairman of the Russian National Security Council.