He was leader of the Communist Party of China ( CPC ) . Deng never held office as the head of state or the head of government , but was the de facto leader of the People 's Republic of China from 1978 to the early 1990s . While Deng never held office as the head of state , head of government or General Secretary of the Communist Party of China ( historically the highest position in Communist China ) , he nonetheless served as the paramount leader of the People 's Republic of China from 1978 to 1992 .