Why Xi’s ‘great secretary’ Cai Qi wields so much power

The director of the General Office is known as the “great secretary,” or dami; the job is fundamentally to serve the top leader. The dami organises logistics, drafts documents, convenes meetings, arranges security and manages the general secretary’s schedule. The position has historically carried considerable informal authority because the director controls much of the information and access surrounding the top leader. Last year, Cai held a meeting with Narendra Modi during the Prime Minister’s visit to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. When Donald Trump visited China in May, Cai was the first Chinese official to shake the…