Establishment in 1954

The office of state chairman (the original English translation) was first established under the 1954 Constitution.^[3] Though the ceremonial powers of the office were largely identical to those in the current Constitution, the powers of the 1954 office differed from those of the current office in two areas: military and governmental.^[3] The state chairman's military powers were defined in the 1954 Constitution as follows: "The Chairman of the People's Republic of China commands the armed forces of the state, and is chairman of the National Defence Council (Chinese: 国防委员会)."^[3] The National Defence Council was unique to the 1954 Constitution, and was mandated as the civil command for the People's Liberation Army. It was abolished under the 1975 Constitution.

The state chairman's governmental powers were defined in the 1954 Constitution as follows: "The Chairman of the People's Republic of China, whenever necessary, convenes a Supreme State Conference (Chinese: 最高国务会议) and acts as its chairman."^[3] The members of the Supreme State Conference included the main officers of state, and its views were to be presented to the main organs of state and government, including the National People's Congress and the State and National Defense Councils.^[3] The Supreme State Conference was also unique to the 1954 Constitution. It was abolished under the 1975 Constitution and later Constitutions have not included a similar body.

History up to 1974

CCP Chairman Mao Zedong was the first to hold the office of state chairman. He was elected at the founding session of the National People's Congress in 1954. At the 2nd NPC in 1959, Mao was succeeded by Liu Shaoqi, first-ranked Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. Liu was reelected as state chairman at the 3rd NPC in Jan 1965. However, in 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution and by August 1966 Mao and his supporters succeeding in removing Liu from his position as party vice chairman. A few months later Liu was apparently placed under house arrest, and after a prolonged power struggle the 12th Plenum of the 8th Communist Party Congress stripped Liu Shaoqi of all his party and non-party positions on 31 October 1968, including the post of state chairman. This was in violation of the Constitution, which required a vote by the NPC to remove the state chairman.^{[citation needed]} After Liu's removal in 1968, the office of state chairman was vacant. From 1972 to 1975, however, state media referred to Vice State Chairman Dong Biwu as "acting state chairman".^{[citation needed]}

Abolition in 1975

When the 4th NPC was convened in 1975, its main act was to adopt a new Constitution which eliminated the office of state chairman and emphasized instead the leadership of the Communist Party over the state, including an article that made the CCP chairman supreme commander of the PLA in concurrence as chairman of the party CMC, while the duties of state representative were transferred to the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.^[4] The 5th NPC was convened two years early, in 1978, and a third Constitution was adopted, which also lacked the office of state chairman, but did place a greater emphasis on the ceremonial roles performed by the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress as state representative.^{[5][better source needed]}

Restoration in 1982

When it was agreed to amend the constitution again in 1980, questions to whether to restore the presidency arose. Research showed that having the NPCSC chairman as the national representative created problems, as the position was equivalent to the speaker of parliament in other countries. Deng Xiaoping agreed to restore the presidency, but without powers in specific government affairs.^[5]

The office was reinstated in the fourth Constitution, adopted by the 5th Session of the 5th NPC in 1982.^[5] In the 1982 Constitution, the party developed policy while the state executed it, and the president was conceived of as a ceremonial and replacement figure with a role similar to that of equivalent of figurehead presidents in parliamentary republics. Actual state power was vested in the general secretary of the Communist Party, the premier, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission. As part of the effort to prevent another leader from rising above the party as Mao had done, all four posts were intended to be held by separate people. The president therefore performed ceremonial duties such as greeting foreign dignitaries and signing the appointment of embassy staff, and did not intervene in the affairs of the State Council or the party. The constitution also mandated term limits for the office, stipulating the president and vice president could not serve more than two consecutive terms.^{[citation needed]}

The posts of the premier, president and CCP general secretary were held by different individuals in the 1980s. That said, in reality political power was concentrated on Deng Xiaoping, effectively the paramount leader, who controlled the Party, government and the military from "behind the scenes" without holding any of the three posts. However, presidents Li Xiannian (1983–1988) and Yang Shangkun (1988–1993) were not simple figureheads, but actually significant players in the highest leadership. They derived most of their power from being amongst the Eight Elders, rather than the office of president.^[6]

In the 1990s, the experiment of separating party and state posts, which led to conflict between Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, was terminated. In 1993, Jiang Zemin, who had been general secretary of the CCP and chairman of the Central Military Commission since 1989, assumed the presidency as well, becoming the undisputed top leader of the party and the state.^[7][8] Jiang stepped down as president in 2003, handing the post to then–Vice President Hu Jintao, the first vice president to assume the office. Hu had already become general secretary in 2002. In turn, Hu vacated both offices for Xi Jinping in 2012 and 2013, who had also previously served as vice president under Hu.^[9]

On March 11, 2018, the first session of the 13th National People's Congress, by a vote of 2,958 in favor, two opposed and three abstaining, passed a constitutional amendment that removed the previous term limits for the president and the vice president.^[10] Xi explained the decision in terms of needing to align the presidency with his more powerful posts of general secretary of the party and CMC chairman, which do not have term limits.^[11]

Eligibility

Article 79 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for being elected for the presidency. To serve as president, one must:

• be a Chinese citizen;
• have the right to vote and stand for election;
• be at least 45 years old.^{[12][non-primary source needed]}

Election

According to the Organic Law of the National People's Congress (NPC), constitutionally China's highest organ of state power, the president is nominated by the NPC Presidium, the Congress's executive organ.^{[13][non-primary source needed]} However, the nomination is effectively made by the Chinese Communist Party, with the decisions being made among Party leaders.^[14] Although the Presidium could theoretically nominate multiple candidates for the presidency, leading the election to be competitive, it has always nominated a single candidate for the office.^[14]

After the nomination, the president is elected by the NPC, which also has the power to remove the president and other state officers from office. Elections and removals are decided by majority vote.^{[12][non-primary source needed]} The length of the president's term of office is the same as the NPC, which is 5 years.^[12] Since 2018, the president is required to recite the constitutional oath of office before assuming office.^[14]

Timeline

Chairmen

• Mao Zedong
  (27 September 1954 –
  27 April 1959;
  Chairman of the Central People's Government
  1 October 1949 –
  27 September 1954)
• 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)

Chairman 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