Academic ranks in China

Academic ranks in China are the titles, relative importance and power of professors, researchers, and administrative personnel held in academia.
Overview.
Most universities in the People's Republic of China adopt a four-level academic rank system (Senior rank, Vice-Senior rank, Medium rank, and Junior rank), i.e. professor, associate professor, lecturer, and assistant lecturer. More recently, top universities (e.g. Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University) also added the American-style title of assistant professor, typically granted to tenure-track positions, with the expectation that they will be promoted to associate professor (tenured or untenured) and then full professor (tenured) within the academic tenure system. 
Most PhD graduates will initially be appointed at the lecturer level and receive the qualification to be promoted to associate professorship after two years of teaching. However, people holding a doctorate from Western universities and with some working experience overseas will occasionally be appointed at a higher level, in exceptional cases at the full professor level directly. Mostly, each individuate institute has only one principal rank (e.g. dean of a college, president of a university) and multiple deputy ranks. 
Professor series
Engineer series
Researcher series