Cai Qi

Cai Qi (Chinese: 蔡奇; pinyin: Cài Qí; born December 5, 1955) is a Chinese politician, who is the current first-ranked member of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), fifth-ranking member of the CCP's Politburo Standing Committee and the director of the CCP General Office, effectively making him the chief of staff to CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping. A graduate of Fujian Normal University, Cai began his career in his native Fujian province, where he worked at the Fujian Provincial Committee of the CCP. In 1997, he became the mayor of Sanming, serving there until 1999. In that year, he was transferred to Zhejiang to become the mayor of Quzhou, working there until 2002. He worked as the CCP committee secretary of Taizhou from 2002 to 2007, and as the mayor of Hangzhou from 2007 to 2010. From 2010 to 2014, he served as the executive vice governor of Zhejiang. In 2014, he was transferred to Beijing to serve as deputy director of the CCP National Security Commission Office (rank equivalent of minister). From 2016 to 2017, he served as the mayor of Beijing. Between 2017 and 2022, he was the Party Secretary of Beijing. During his tenure, Cai oversaw Beijing's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics. In 2022, he was promoted to the 5th-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee and was elected to the Secretariat. In 2026, he became president of the Central Party School. Largely due to Cai's extensive experience working in Zhejiang province, he is believed to be a political ally of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping.