President of China

The presidency is a part of system of people's congress based on the principle of unified power in which the National People's Congress (NPC) functions as the only branch of government and as the highest state organ of power. The presidency is a state organ of the NPC and equivalent to, for instance, the State Council and the National Supervisory Commission, rather than a political office, unlike the premier of the State Council. Together with the NPC Standing Committee, the presidency performs certain heads of state functions. The president can engage in state affairs with the consent of the NPC Standing Committee. While the presidency is not a powerful organ in itself, since 27 March 1993, the president has concurrently served as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), making the incumbent China's paramount leader and commander-in-chief.


The first state representative of China dates back to the Republican era when the post was held by Sun Yat-sen upon the establishment of the Republic on 1 January 1912. The presidency in its current form was the chairman of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, which was established on 1 October 1949 by a decision of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. It was replaced in Constitution in 1954 with the office of state chairman. It was successively held by Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi. Liu fell into political disgrace during the Cultural Revolution, after which the presidency became vacant. The post of chairman was abolished under the Constitution of 1975, and the function of state representative was bestowed on the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. The office was reinstated in the Constitution of 1982 but with reduced powers and a stipulation that the president could not serve more than two consecutive terms. The term limits were abolished in 2018. Since 1982, the title's official English-language translation has been "president", although the Chinese title remains unchanged.^{[note 1]}

Powers and duties[edit]

The president functions as the state representative of China both internally and externally.^[15] According to the constitution, the presidency is not a position but a state organ that represents the PRC in state activities, but one person serves the presidency.^[5]


Under the current constitution, instated in 1982 with minor revisions in later years, the president has the power to promulgate laws, select and dismiss the premier (head of government), vice premiers, state councillors as well as ministers of the State Council, grant presidential pardons, declare states of emergency, issue mass mobilization orders, and issue state honours. In addition, the president names and dismisses ambassadors to foreign countries and signs and annuls treaties with foreign entities. According to the Constitution, all of these powers require the approval or confirmation of the National People's Congress (NPC),^[12] which the office is subject to.^[15]


The president also conducts state visits on behalf of the People's Republic.^{[note 2]} Under the constitution, the "state visit" clause is the only presidential power that does not stipulate any form of oversight from the NPC. As the vast majority of presidential powers are dependent on the ratification of the NPC, the president is, in essence, a symbolic post without any direct say in the governance of the state. It is, therefore, conceived to mainly function as a symbolic institution of the state rather than an office with true executive powers.^[16][17][18]


In theory, the president has discretion in selecting the premier, though in practice, the premier has historically been selected through the top-level discussions of the Chinese Communist Party. Upon the premier's nomination, the NPC convenes to confirm the nomination, but since only one name is on the ballot, it can only approve or reject. To date, it has never rejected a personnel nomination.^[19] Since the premier, the head of government in China, is the most important political appointment in the Chinese government, the nomination power, under some circumstances, may give the president real political influence.^[20]


The director of the Office of the President of the PRC (Chinese: 中华人民共和国主席办公室; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zhǔxí Bàngōngshì) is also the director of the CCP General Secretary Office.^[21]

Post title[edit]

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]