Core

héxīn 核心

A reference to the highest leader of the Chinese Communist Party used (when in favor) in official rhetoric.

The term, coined by Deng Xiaoping when he called Mao the "core" of the CCP's first generation and himself that of the second, was widely used in reference to Jiang Zemin, "the core of the third generation." The term was not commonly applied to the low-key fourth generation Party leader Hu Jintao, but was resurrected by state media to refer to Xi Jinping amid the fifth generation leader's drive to consolidate power, and used widely by provincial and municipal leaders for Xi in early 2016 during a loyalty drive.