President of China

Last updated
President of the
People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国主席
National Emblem of the People's Republic of China (2).svg
National Emblem of the People's Republic of China
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg
Flag of the People's Republic of China
Xi Jinping in July 2024.jpg
Incumbent
Xi Jinping
since 14 March 2013
Office of the President of the
People's Republic of China
Style
Type State representative [1]
Status National leader level official
Reports to National People's Congress and its Standing Committee
Residence West Building, Zhongnanhai
Seat Beijing
Nominator Presidium of the National People's Congress
Appointer National People's Congress
Term length Five years,
renewable with no-limit
Constituting instrument Constitution of China
PrecursorChairman of the Central People's Government (1949–1954)
Formation1 January 1912;112 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¥150,000 per annum est. (2015) [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.PositionIncumbentParty
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

Timeline

Xi JinpingHu JintaoJiang ZeminYang ShangkunLi XiannianYe JianyingZhu DeSoong Ching-lingDong BiwuLiu ShaoqiMao ZedongPresident of China

Chairpeople

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

Presidents

Statistics

#PresidentDate of birthAge at ascension
(first term)		Time in office
(total)		Age at retirement
(last term)		Date of deathLongevity
1 Mao Zedong 26 December 189360 years, 275 days4 years, 212 days64 years, 122 days9 September 1976
2 Liu Shaoqi 24 November 189860 years, 154 days9 years, 187 days69 years, 342 days12 November 1969
Presidency vacant
acting Dong Biwu 5 March 188685 years, 356 days2 years, 327 days88 years, 318 days2 April 1975
Hon. Soong Ching-ling 27 January 189388 years, 109 daysHonorary [26] [27] –

29 May 1981
Presidency abolished
3 Li Xiannian 23 June 190973 years, 360 days4 years, 295 days78 years, 290 days21 June 1992
4 Yang Shangkun 3 August 190780 years, 250 days4 years, 352 days85 years, 236 days14 September 1998
5 Jiang Zemin 17 August 192666 years, 222 days9 years, 353 days76 years, 210 days30 November 2022
6 Hu Jintao 21 December 194260 years, 84 days9 years, 365 days70 years, 84 daysLiving
7 Xi Jinping 15 June 1953IncumbentLiving

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.ImageSpousePresidentTenure
1 1967-07 1967Nian 4Yue 20Ri Bei Jing Shi Ge Ming Wei Yuan Hui Cheng Li Jiang Qing (1to1).jpg Jiang Qing Mao Zedong 27 September 1954 – 27 April 1959
2 Guangmei.jpg Wang Guangmei Liu Shaoqi 27 April 1959 – 31 October 1968
3 Lin Jiamei, 1985 (cropped).jpg Lin Jiamei Li Xiannian 18 June 1983 – 8 April 1988
Vacant Yang Shangkun 8 April 1988 – 27 March 1993
4 Wang Yeping.jpg Wang Yeping Jiang Zemin 27 March 1993 – 15 March 2003
5 Liu Yongqing.jpg Liu Yongqing Hu Jintao 15 March 2003 – 14 March 2013
6 Peng Liyuan (2019) (cropped).jpg Peng Liyuan Xi Jinping 14 March 2013 – Incumbent

See also

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.

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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. ↑ Luo, Wangshu (20 January 2015). "Public Employees Get Salary Increase". China Daily . Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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.

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