Retired top leader Jiang Zemin has been revealed to have requested that his position in the ranking of Party and State leaders be lowered, after the public noticed a significant change in the official rankings appeared in the news earlier this week.

In a news report about the funeral of communist veteran Yang Baibing, China Central Television (CCTV) put Jiang's name behind Chinese President Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping, and members of the previous and current Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Since Jiang, the head of the third generation of the central collective leadership, retired in 2004, he had been placed only second to Hu in the past decade at all public appearances and news reports.

The Xinhua News Agency early Wednesday carried a brief report on its website, saying that after the 18th National Congress of the CPC in November 2012, the 86-year-old Jiang requested the CPC Central Committee put his name along with other retired senior officials in the ranking order of Party and State leaders.

Xinhua commented that Jiang's move has embodied "the exemplary conduct and nobility of character and broad-mindedness" of a Party member.

The news, though it only included a few words, featured prominently on top news sections at nearly all the news portals in China. A post about the news was reposted on Sina Weibo more than 9,000 times by Web users on Wednesday.

In China, the ranking of officials is considered a serious matter, and has been closely watched and sometimes interpreted for traces of political indications.

On CCTV's flagship newscast Xinwen Lianbo, reports on officials come strictly in rank order. Party newspapers also arrange their layouts following the same rule.

However, market-oriented media outlets do not follow the rule.

Jiang sat by Hu's side in the center of the front row during the 18th CPC National Congress, while former leaders, including premier Zhu Rongji, also appeared at the meeting at prominent spots.

Cai Zhiqiang, a professor on Party building at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times Wednesday that the voluntary request was a good gesture by Jiang, especially in China's traditional social culture that puts great emphasis on the ranking of officials.

Li Junru, former vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, also applauded Jiang's move, regarding it as major progress following the termination of the life-tenure of top leaders.

"After the abolishment of that system, we have had a lot of retired senior leaders, ranking them has been a tricky problem. Jiang's request couldn't be better," Li said.

During last year's leadership transition of the CPC, Xi became CPC Central Committee General Secretary and Chairman of the CPC's Central Military Commission, marking the first synchronized transition of the two posts in the Party's history.

Hu took over the Party chief post from Jiang Zemin in 2002, but succeeded the military post two years later.

Following the transition, Xi said Hu voluntarily gave up the military commission post, noting that Hu's decision embodied his "exemplary conduct and nobility of character."

Cai said the moves by Hu and Jiang suggested that the Party's leadership transition has made major progress in its institutionalization process, and that the current and former leaders have been pushing forward institutionalization in both their theories and practices.