Order of precedence in China in the context of "Premier of China"

The premier of China, officially the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, is the head of government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and leader of the State Council. The post of prime minister was established in 1911 near the end of the Qing dynasty, but the current post dates to 1954, five years after the establishment of the PRC. The premier is the third-highest ranking official in China's political system after the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (party leader) and the president (state representative), and holds the highest rank in the civil service of the central government.

The premier presides over the plenary and executive meetings of the State Council, and assumes overall leadership over the State Council's work. The premier delivers a government work report at the annual session of the NPC. The premier also signs administrative regulations passed by the State Council and signs the orders approving the appointment and removal of deputy-ministerial level officials of the State Council, as well as chief executives of Hong Kong and of Macau. The premier additionally has the authority to impose martial law. The premier is assisted by four vice premiers and state councillors in their duties. The premier heads the Leading Party Members Group of the State Council. In China's political system, the premier has generally thought to be the one responsible for managing the economy.

The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the state representative of the People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a ceremonial office and has no real power in China's political system, though since 1993, the post has been concurrently held by the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission, who is China's de facto top leader. While the office has many of the characteristics of a head of state, the Constitution of China does not define it as such. The Chinese president was the third to fifth highest-ranking position when it was re-established in 1982.

The presidency is a part of the system of people's congress based on the principle of unified power in which the National People's Congress (NPC) functions as the only branch of government and as the highest state organ of power. The presidency is a state organ of the NPC and equivalent to, for instance, the State Council and the National Supervisory Commission, rather than a political office, unlike the premier of the State Council. Together with the NPC Standing Committee, the presidency performs certain functions performed by a head of state in most other countries. The president can engage in state affairs with the consent of the NPC Standing Committee. While the presidency is not a powerful organ in itself, since 27 March 1993, the president has concurrently served as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), making the incumbent China's paramount leader and supreme commander of the armed forces.

The premier of China, officially the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, is the head of government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and leader of the State Council. The post of prime minister was established in 1911 near the end of the Qing dynasty, but the current post dates to 1954, five years after the establishment of the PRC. The premier is the second-highest ranking official in China's political system after the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (party leader) and the president (state representative), and holds the highest rank in the civil service of the central government.

The premier presides over the plenary and executive meetings of the State Council, and assumes overall leadership over the State Council's work. The premier delivers a government work report at the annual session of the NPC. The premier also signs administrative regulations passed by the State Council and signs the orders approving the appointment and removal of deputy-ministerial level officials of the State Council, as well as chief executives of Hong Kong and of Macau. The premier additionally has the authority to impose martial law. The premier is assisted by four vice premiers and state councillors in their duties. The premier heads the Leading Party Members Group of the State Council. In China's political system, the premier has generally thought to be the one responsible for managing the economy.

The position of state representative is the most senior state office of the People's Republic of China, with a role similar to a head of state and is the second to eighth highest-ranking position in Chinese history, always under the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The state representative is often, but not always, also the top leader of China. Under the current constitution, which does not officially define any office as the head of state, the state representative is the president of the People's Republic of China. The role was created in 1954 when the first constitution consolidated the system of government in the People's Republic of China. At the time, the title was translated into English as State Chairman. The position was abolished between 1975 and 1982 with the functions of state representative being performed by the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The presidency was revived under the fourth constitution in 1982.

The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the state representative of the People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a ceremonial office and has no real power in China's political system, though since 1993, the post has been concurrently held by the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission, who is China's de facto top leader. While the office has many of the characteristics of a head of state, the country's constitution does not define it as such.

The presidency in its current form was the chairman of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, which was established on 1 October 1949 by a decision of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. It was replaced in Constitution in 1954 with the office of state chairman. It was successively held by Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi. Liu fell into political disgrace during the Cultural Revolution, after which the presidency became vacant. The post of chairman was abolished under the 1975 constitution, and the function of state representative was bestowed on the chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee. The office was reinstated in the Constitution of 1982 but with reduced powers and a stipulation that the president could not serve more than two consecutive terms. The Chinese president was the third to fifth highest-ranking position when it was re-established in 1982. The term limits were abolished in 2018. Since 1982, the title's official English-language translation has been "president", although the Chinese title remains unchanged.

The five pillars (Vietnamese: bộ ngũ, pronounced [tɨ˧˦ t͡ɕu˧˨ʔ]; or ngũ trụ), previously the four pillars (tứ trụ), is an informal term for the five most important party-state leaders in the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Government of Vietnam. In modern usage, the five pillars refer to the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President of Vietnam, Prime Minister of Vietnam, Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, and the Permanent Member of the Secretariat. Together, they are officially designated as the "Key Leaders of the Party and the State" (Vietnamese: Lãnh đạo chủ chốt của Đảng và Nhà nước) and can be considered as the de facto highest state leaders. Similar to China, there does not exist an official order of precedence for political leaders and rather they are inferred in a de facto fashion. However, since the chairmanship of the Communist Party was abolished, the General Secretary has been the highest ranking official in Vietnam. This division of power is formed to prevent dictatorial rule and preserve consensus-based leadership, which is officially called by the Vietnamese Communist Party as "democratic centralism". In 2025, the seat of Permanent Member of the Secretariat of CPV was designated as the fifth "key leader", virtually becoming the fifth pillar of the Vietnamese politics.

Unlike other communist states, the General Secretary of the party (or its predecessor) and the President of the state are largely occupied not by the same person, demonstrating the collective leadership in Vietnam. The only exceptions are: Hồ Chí Minh (1951–69), Trường Chinh (briefly in 1986), Nguyễn Phú Trọng (2018–21), and Tô Lâm (briefly in 2024), and except Hồ Chí Minh, all of those exceptions were practically elected to fulfill their successors' uncompleted terms of party general secretaryship or state presidency. Thus, the Party General Secretaries rarely hold offices that are nominally within the Vietnamese state apparatus and government except their parliament memberships, however is still managed to be the practical highest leader in the politics of Vietnam and is ideologically the highest commander of the People's Army of Vietnam, due to the ex officio occupation of the Secretaryship of the Party Central Military Commission.