President of China

For the president of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, see President of the Republic of China. For the de facto top leader of the People's Republic of China, see Paramount leader.

Further information: List of presidents of China

President of the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国主席
National Emblem of China
Flag of China
Incumbent Xi Jinping since 14 March 2013
Office of the President of the People's Republic of China
Style	Mr. President (主席) (informal) His Excellency (阁下) (diplomatic)
Type	State representative [1]
Status	National-level official (second-highest ranking official)
Reports to	Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
Residence	Zhongnanhai
Seat	Beijing
Nominator	Presidium of the National People's Congress
Appointer	National People's Congress
Term length	Five years, renewable indefinitely
Constituting instrument	Constitution of China (1982)
Precursor	Chairman of the Central People's Government (1949–1954)
Formation	1 January 1912;113 years ago (1912-01-01) (Republican era) 27 September 1954;70 years ago (1954-09-27) (current form)
First holder	Sun Yat-sen (Republican era) Mao Zedong (current form)
Abolished	1975–1982
Deputy	Vice President
Salary	CN¥136,620 per annum est. (2015) (USD18,721) [2]

President of the People's Republic of China
Simplified Chinese	中华人民共和国 主席
Traditional Chinese	中華人民共和國 主席
Transcriptions

Post title

The title of the office (Chinese :国家主席; pinyin :Guójiā Zhǔxí), which literally translates to "state chairman", was unchanged in the Chinese text, but a new English translation of "President of the People's Republic of China" has been adopted since 1982, instead of "Chairman of the People's Republic of China". ^[17]

Line of succession

Article 84 of the Constitution of China. If the office of president falls vacant, then the vice president succeeds to the office. If both offices fall vacant, then the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee temporarily acts as president until the NPC can elect a new president and vice president. ^[25]

Current line of succession

No.	Position	Incumbent	Party
1	Vice President of the People's Republic of China	Han Zheng		Communist
2	Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress	Zhao Leji		Communist

List of state representatives

For a more comprehensive list, see List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China.

Chairpeople

• 
  Liu Shaoqi
  (27 April 1959 –
  31 October 1968)
• 
  Dong Biwu
  (Vice-Chairman acted as the Chairman
  31 October 1968 –
  24 February 1972;
  Acted Chairman
  24 February 1972 –
  17 January 1975)
• 
  Song Qingling
  (Vice-Chairwoman acted as the Chairwoman
  31 October 1968 –
  24 February 1972;
  Honorary Chairwoman
  16 May 1981 –
  29 May 1981)

Chairpeople of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

• 
  Zhu De
  (17 January 1975 –
  6 July 1976)
• 
  Song Qingling
  (Acting Chairwoman
  6 July 1976 –
  5 March 1978)
• 
  Ye Jianying
  (5 March 1978 –
  18 June 1983)

Presidents

• 
  Li Xiannian
  (18 June 1983 –
  8 April 1988)
• 
  Yang Shangkun
  (8 April 1988 –
  27 March 1993)
• 
  Jiang Zemin
  (27 March 1993 –
  15 March 2003)
• 
  Hu Jintao
  (15 March 2003 –
  14 March 2013)
• 
  Xi Jinping
  (14 March 2013 –
  present)

Statistics

#	President	Date of birth	Age at ascension (first term)	Time in office (total)	Age at retirement (last term)	Date of death	Longevity
1	Zedong, Mao Mao Zedong	1893122626 December 1893(26 December 1893)	60 27560 years, 275 days	04 2124 years, 212 days	64 12264 years, 122 days	197609099 September 1976	30,20782 years, 258 days
2	Shaoqi, Liu Liu Shaoqi	1898112424 November 1898(24 November 1898)	60 15460 years, 154 days	09 1879 years, 187 days	69 34269 years, 342 days	1969111212 November 1969	25,92070 years, 353 days
Presidency vacant
acting	Biwu, Dong Dong Biwu	188603055 March 1886(5 March 1886)	85 35685 years, 356 days	02 3272 years, 327 days	88 31888 years, 318 days	197504022 April 1975	32,53489 years, 28 days
Hon.	Ching-ling, Soong Soong Ching-ling	1893012727 January 1893(27 January 1893)	83 16188 years, 109 days	01 242Honorary [26] [27]	– 85 037	1981052929 May 1981	32,26388 years, 122 days
Presidency abolished
3	Xiannian, Li Li Xiannian	1909062323 June 1909(23 June 1909)	73 36073 years, 360 days	04 2954 years, 295 days	78 29078 years, 290 days	1992062121 June 1992	30,31482 years, 364 days
4	Shangkun, Yang Yang Shangkun	190708033 August 1907(3 August 1907)	80 25080 years, 250 days	04 3524 years, 352 days	85 23685 years, 236 days	1998091414 September 1998	33,28091 years, 42 days
5	Zemin, Jiang Jiang Zemin	1926081717 August 1926(17 August 1926)	66 22266 years, 222 days	09 3539 years, 353 days	76 21076 years, 210 days	2022113030 November 2022	35,16996 years, 105 days
6	Jintao, Hu Hu Jintao	1942122121 December 1942(21 December 1942)	60 08460 years, 84 days	09 3649 years, 365 days	70 08470 years, 84 days	Living	30,04082 years, 89 days (Living)
7	Jinping, Xi Xi Jinping	1953061515 June 1953(15 June 1953)	59 years, 272 days	12 years, 6 days (Incumbent)	Incumbent	Living	26,21171 years, 278 days (Living)

Spouse of the president

Since the first president, six presidents have had a spouse during their terms in office. The current spouse is Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping.

No.	Image	Spouse	President	Tenure
1		Jiang Qing	Mao Zedong	27 September 1954 – 27 April 1959
2		Wang Guangmei	Liu Shaoqi	27 April 1959 – 31 October 1968
3		Lin Jiamei	Li Xiannian	18 June 1983 – 8 April 1988
	Vacant		Yang Shangkun	8 April 1988 – 27 March 1993
4		Wang Yeping	Jiang Zemin	27 March 1993 – 15 March 2003
5		Liu Yongqing	Hu Jintao	15 March 2003 – 14 March 2013
6		Peng Liyuan	Xi Jinping	14 March 2013 – Incumbent

See also

• China portal
• Politics portal

• List of Chinese leaders
• List of leaders of the People's Republic of China
• Party and state leaders
• Orders of precedence in China

Notes

1. In Chinese, the president of the PRC is termed zhǔxí, while the presidents of other countries are termed zǒngtǒng. Furthermore, zhǔxí continues to mean "chairman" in a generic context. Incidentally, the president of the Republic of China is termed zǒngtǒng.
2. Currently, a specially configured Boeing 747-8i is used to carry the president on international trips. See Air transports of heads of state and government#China, People's Republic of (China) for more details.

References

1. "国家主席是什么样的国家机构？"What kind of national organ is the president"". People's Daily (official newspaper of the CCP) (in Chinese (China)). Chinese Communist Party News. 14 March 2013. 在我国，国家主席无实质、独立的权力，是"虚位"国家元首。"In our nation, the President does not hold substantive, separate power, and is ceremonial..."
2. "Is it true Xi Jinping earns only US$19,000?". PoliticalSalaries.com. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
3. Chang, Yu-Nan (1956). "The Chinese Communist State System Under the Constitution of 1954". The Journal of Politics . 18 (3): 520–546. doi:10.2307/2127261. ISSN   0022-3816. JSTOR   2127261. S2CID   154446161.
4. Cohen, Jerome Alan (1978). "China's Changing Constitution". The China Quarterly . 76 (76): 794–841. doi:10.1017/S0305741000049584. JSTOR   652647. S2CID   153288789. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
5. "国家主席是什么样的国家机构？" [What kind of national institution is the State President?]. cpc.people.com.cn. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
6. Foreword in Zhao, Ziyang (2009). Bao Pu; Adi Ignatius; Renee Chiang (eds.). Prisoner of the State: The Secret Journal of Zhao Ziyang. Foreword by Roderick MacFarquhar. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-1-4391-4938-6.
7. "A Simple Guide to the Chinese Government". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018. Xi Jinping is the most powerful figure in the Chinese political system. He is the President of China, but his real influence comes from his position as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
8. Blanchard, Ben; Wong, Sue-Lin (25 February 2018). "China Sets Stage for Xi to Stay in Office Indefinitely". Reuters . Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018. However, the role of party chief is more senior than that of president. At some point, Xi could be given a party position that also enables him to stay on as long as he likes.
9. Choi, Chi-yuk; Zhou, Viola (6 October 2017). "Does Chinese Leader Xi Jinping Plan to Hang on to Power for More than 10 Years?". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017. If Xi relinquished the presidency in 2023 but remained party chief and chairman of the Central Military commission (CMC), his successor as president would be nothing more than a symbolic figure... "Once the president is neither the party's general secretary nor the CMC chairman, he or she will be hollowed out, just like a body without a soul."
10. "China Approves 'president for Life' Change". BBC News . 11 March 2018. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
11. Mitchell, Tom (16 April 2018). "China's Xi Jinping Says He Is Opposed to Life-Long Rule" . Financial Times . Archived from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018. President insists term extension is necessary to align government and party posts
12. "Constitution of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress . Retrieved 1 November 2023.
13. "Organic Law of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China". National People's Congress . 11 March 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
14. Liao, Zewei (4 March 2023). "NPC 2023: How China Selects Its State Leaders for the Next Five Years". NPC Observer. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
15. "President of the People's Republic of China". China.org.cn . Retrieved 2 September 2023.
16. Buckley, Chris; Wu, Adam (10 March 2018). "Ending Term Limits for China's Xi Is a Big Deal. Here's Why". New York Times . Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2019. In China, the political job that matters most is the general secretary of the Communist Party. The party controls the military and domestic security forces and sets the policies that the government carries out. China's presidency lacks the authority of the American and French presidencies.
17. Wong 2023, p. 24.
18. Mai, Jun (8 May 2021). "Who leads the Communist Party?". South China Morning Post . Retrieved 17 January 2023. Xi Jinping is often referred to by his ceremonial role as guojia zhuxi, or "state chairman", a title usually translated into English as "president". But it is his position as the party's general secretary that indicates his top status.
19. Yew, Chiew Ping; Gang Chen (2010). China's National People's Congress 2010: Addressing Challenges With No Breakthrough in Legislative Assertiveness (PDF). Background Brief. Singapore: East Asian Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
20. Weng, Byron (1982). "Some Key Aspects of the 1982 Draft Constitution of the People's Republic of China". The China Quarterly . 91 (91): 492–506. doi:10.1017/S0305741000000692. JSTOR   653370. S2CID   153804208.
21. Mathews, Jay (4 March 1980). "5 Children of Liu Shaoqi Detail Years in Disfavor". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
22. "Li Xiannian: China's New President". United Press International . 18 June 1983. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
23. Del Vecchio, Mark S. (8 April 1988). "Yang Shangkun Elected Chinese President". United Press International . Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
24. "Jiang Zemin to Have Lower Rank in Communist Party". The Telegraph . Agence France-Presse. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
25. Wong 2023, p. 306.
26. "历届中华人民共和国主席". www.gov.cn. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
27. "中华人民共和国国务院公报一九八一年第十一号" (PDF). 中华人民共和国国务院 State Council of the People's Republic of China . pp. 327–328. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2022.

Works cited

• Wong, Chun Han (2023). Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China's Superpower Future. Simon & Schuster. ISBN   9781982185732.