Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party

The Secretariat, officially the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a body serving the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Politburo and Standing Committee. The secretariat is mainly responsible for carrying out routine operations of the Politburo and coordinating organizations and stakeholders to achieve tasks set out by the Politburo. It is empowered by the Politburo to make routine day-to-day decisions on issues of concern in accordance with the decisions of the Politburo, but it must consult the Politburo on substantive matters. The de facto head of the Secretariat is the first-ranked secretary.

The secretariat was set up in January 1934. It is nominally headed by the CCP general secretary, though the position of head of the secretariat was not always the same as the top party leader. Secretaries of the secretariat (Shujichu Shuji) are considered some of the most important political positions in the CCP and contemporary China, more generally. Each secretariat secretary is generally in charge of one of the major party departments directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Committee. By protocol, its members are ranked above the vice chairmen of the National People's Congress as well as State Councilors. The General Secretary presides over the secretariat's work.