Elite Backgrounds, Career Paths, and Promotion Patterns in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Patrick Francois, Francesco Trebbi, Kairong Xiao

2023-03-01

This dataset collection contains detailed individual-level data on members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), primarily from the 19th Central Committee and related leadership bodies. The data include variables on personal demographics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, education), career trajectories (e.g., office tenures, geographic placements, sectoral experience), and elite backgrounds (e.g., military service, red/technocratic family origins, bureaucratic ties). Several datasets focus on promotion outcomes and covariates relevant for regression analysis, while others record coded biographical information from public sources such as official CCP documents and media reports. Variables span institutional affiliations, cadre rank levels, prior leadership experience, and exposure to national vs. local governance. This structure enables analysis of determinants of elite selection and promotion within the CCP hierarchy.