ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the political mobility of Chinese provincial leaders from 1949 to 1998. It explores the stability of the provincial leadership; upward mobility; horizontal mobility; downward mobility; and retirement. The chapter discusses the career patterns of the provincial leaders. The Chinese provincial leadership in general is rather stable. The stability of the provincial leadership was upset the third time in 1993, with 60 percent of the provincial leaders remaining in their offices. In a sense, 1993 was a continuation of 1983, as the party continued to rejuvenate the provincial leadership with younger and better-educated people, but the orientation was different. The most systematic departure of the senior provincial leaders from the junior provincial leaders occurred during the Cultural Revolution, when governors and secretaries were reshuffled more frequently than vice governors and deputy secretaries.
