President of China

President of the People's Reupblic of China
Incumbent:	Hu Jintao
First president:	Li Xiannian
Formation:	June 18, 1983

The 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; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zhǔxí, or abbreviated Guójiā Zhǔxí 国家主席, literally People's Republic of China State Chairman) is the head of state of the People's Republic of China. The office was created by the 1982 Constitution. Formally, the President is elected by the National People's Congress in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution. In practice, this election falls into the category of 'single-candidate' elections. The candidate is recommended by the Presidium of the National People's Congress.

The term Zhuxi refers to the chairman in a committee, and was translated as such prior to the 1982 constitution (as in Chairman Mao, although Mao's title refers primarily to the position of Party Chairman which he held from 1945 until death). The official translation switched to President after 1982 in conformity with Western terminology. However, Zhuxi stayed in Chinese, and in other contexts still corresponds to chairman in English. Meanwhile, the translation of English term President as the head of other states remained Zongtong (simplified Chinese: 总统; traditional Chinese: 總統; pinyin: zǒng tǒng), causing a bit of confusion with regard to usage.

Selection, succession and requirements

According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the National People's Congress (NPC), in theory China's top law-making legislature, has the power to elect and force the resignation of the President. By law, the President must be a Chinese citizen of 45 years of age or older. The President cannot serve for over two terms, a term being the equivalent of one session of the NPC, which is five years.

The President promulgates statutes adopted by the NPC and NPCSC. The President also has the power to appoint the Premier, Vice-Premiers, State Council members, all ambassadors to foreign countries, Ministers of all departments, and all legislative committee chairs, treasurers and secretaries. The President has the power to give Special Presidential Decrees, and can declare State of Emergency, and declare War. The President is assisted by the Vice-President.

In the event that the President dies or leaves office, the Vice-President automatically assumes presidential powers. In the event that they both are unable to perform normal duties, the Chairman of the National People's Congress will perform the duties of the President as Acting President until the NPC can elect a new President.

The President and the state

As the President is legally China's head of state, he is responsible for China's foreign affairs. Since the early 1990s, the President has generally been responsible for establishing general policy and direction for the state and leaves responsibility for the implementation details to the Premier of the People's Republic of China, who is the head of government. In marked contrast to the system of the Soviet Union where the head of state was a powerless figurehead, the Chinese Presidency has grown to be quite a powerful position.

The President and the Party

Also since the 1990s, it has been general practice for the President to also serve as the General Secretary of the Communist Party.

It is key for the general secretary to seal his power by adding the presidency to his powerful collection of titles. This effectively removes any power tension between the top communist leader and the Head of State.

The President and the military

The relationship between the President and the military is a bit more murky. The potential for conflict is lessened when, as during the Jiang era, the President is also chairman of the state Central Military Commission. However, there is a source of potential conflict when this is not the case, shown by the situation in 2003 when top communist leader Hu Jintao was elected President without being elected the CMC chair. In addition, most of the members of both the Party and the State Central Military Commission are uniformed senior generals, giving the People's Liberation Army a degree of autonomy. This autonomy, however, is limited by the existence of political officers.

In principle, when the President is also party general secretary, he could order the Party Central Military Commission to order the state Central Military Commission to do something, however how this would work in a crisis is unclear.

There have been proposals to constitutionally change the system of command to form a National Security Council, modelled after the National Security Council of the United States, which would give the President undisputed command of the military which would then be just another ministry. These proposals were not actively discussed because of opposition from senior generals. In September 2004, Jiang stepped down as Chairman of the commission, and President Hu Jintao became the Commander-in-Chief of the People's Liberation Army.

History of the presidency

Upon the declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Mao Zedong was selected Chairman of the People's Republic of China. Mao, who was also Chairman of the Communist Party of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, was clearly the most powerful person in China. In the Constitution of 1954, the President (officially translated as "Chairman") of the PRC was intended to be very powerful, serving both as the Head of State, and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The president had special powers to call upon emergency meetings during a crisis or concerns of national security.

After his failures in the Great Leap Forward, Mao decided to give up the State presidency in 1959. He was succeeded to this post by Liu Shaoqi, who along with Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, took on a more active role in government to curb the excesses of the Great Leap Forward and restore Soviet-based centrally planned economy. However, in 1966, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to re-assert his personal power and overthrow the Liu government. The state and party apparatus broke down and in 1968, Chairman Liu Shaoqi was arrested and humiliated by the Red Guards.

Chairman Liu died in prison and he was not replaced. Mao concentrated powers centrally into the hands of the Party Chairman, and the CMC Chairman, which were further exercised by various Revolutionary Committees. The ceremonial duties associated with the Head of State were subsequently passed to the Chairman of the National People's Congress, the national legislature. The exact reason why Mao Zedong refused to reinstate the presidency was unclear, however it is now known that Mao did not want his political struggle with Liu Shaoqi to be remembered as his attempt to claim the title of the presidency for himself. Lin Biao, then China's number-two figure, advocated for the reinstatement of the position of President, with Mao taking the position and himself becoming Vice-President. Mao later considered this to be a threat to his power, as the Vice-President can legally succeed the President in the event of the latter's death. But during the early 1980s, it became clearer that China needed a person to serve as the Head of State, albeit completely ceremonial. Soong Ching-ling, the widow of Sun Yat-sen and former vice-chairwoman of PRC, was named to be the Honorary President of the PRC before the passage of the Constitution of 1982.

In the Constitution of 1982, the President was conceived of as a figurehead head of state with actual state power resting in the hands of the Premier of the People's Republic of China and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, both of which were conceived of as being separate people; the President will only hold the office of the President, and not intervene directly in matters of the State Council or the Party. The President therefore held minor responsibilities such as greeting foreign dignitaries, and signing the appointment of embassy staff. In the original 1982 Constitution plan, the Party would develop policy, the state would execute it, and the power would be divided to prevent a cult of personality from forming as it did with the case of Mao Zedong. Thus in 1982, China perceivably had four main leaders: Hu Yaobang, the Party General Secretary; Zhao Ziyang, the Premier; Li Xiannian, the President; and Deng Xiaoping, the "Paramount Leader", holding title of the Chairman of the CMC.

Subsequent events, however, caused the office to have much larger powers than was originally intended. In 1989, then President Yang Shangkun was able in cooperation with the then Chairman of the Central Military Commission Deng Xiaoping to use the office of the President to declare martial law in Beijing and order the military crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. This was in direct opposition to the wishes of Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and probably a majority of the Politburo Standing Committee.

In the 1990s, the experiment of separating party and state posts, which led to bitter division, was terminated, and in 1992, the post of President was taken by Jiang Zemin, who as General Secretary and chief of the Central Military Commission continued to make the office of the President a powerful position. When Jiang Zemin stepped down in 2003, the offices of General Secretary and President were once again both given to one man, then Vice-President Hu Jintao.

List of heads of state

Chairman of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China

• Mao Zedong (1 October 1949 - 27 September 1954)

Chairmen of the People's Republic of China

• Mao Zedong (27 September 1954 - 27 April 1959)
• Liu Shaoqi (27 April 1959 - 31 October 1968)

No successor of Liu Shaoqi was selected, so the vice-chairmen assumed the role of acting heads of state:

• Dong Biwu (31 October 1968 - 17 January 1975)
• Soong Ching-ling (31 October 1968 - 24 February 1972)

The position of Chairman was officially abolished in 1975 and the functions of head of State were formally transmitted to the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

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

• Zhu De (17 January 1975 - 6 July 1976)
• From July 6, 1976 to March 5, 1978 the position remained vacant. The duties of head of state were collectively executed by the twenty vice-chairmen.
• Ye Jianying (5 March 1978 - 18 June 1983)

On 16 May 1981, the title of Honorary President of the People's Republic of China was conferred on Soong Ching-ling by the National People's Congress. She died two weeks later on 29 May, 1981. The powers of the head of state reverted to the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Honorary President of the People's Republic of China

• Soong Ching-ling (May 16, 1981 - May 28, 1981)

Presidents of the People's Republic of China

• 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 (since 15 March 2003)

See also

• Political position ranking of PRC
• Paramount Leader

External links

• The President's Website