ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the setting of provincial leaders: provinces. It presents a detailed description of provincial leaders in terms of personal characteristics such as age, home province, education, nationalities, gender, and years of being a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member. The book defines the political mobility of provincial leaders and identifies the career paths of provincial leaders. It describes career patterns for provincial leaders. The book establishes a baseline model for the political mobility of provincial leaders. It examines the impact of personal characteristics of provincial leaders upon their political mobility. The book also defines the political mobility of provincial leaders to various provincial conditions and performances. It also explores the implications of the findings for the nature of the Chinese State.