Vice President of China
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The vice president of China, officially titled the vice president of the People's Republic of China, is the deputy to the
president of the People's Republic of China The president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the president of China, is the head of state and the second-highest political office of the People's Republic of China. The presidency is constitutionally a largely ceremonial off ...
, the
state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
of China. The office originated in the Republican era when Li Yuanhong held the post of the first Vice President of China. This post in its current form was first established in the Constitution in 1954, with the official English-language translation of " state vice chairman". The post of vice chairman was abolished under the Constitution of 1975 together with the chairman, then reinstated in the Constitution of 1982. Since 1982, the title's official English-language translation has been " vice president", although the Chinese title remains unchanged. The new constitution stipulated that the vice president could not serve more than two consecutive terms; the term limits were removed in 2018. Under the current constitution, the president serves at the pleasure of the National People's Congress (NPC), the legislature. According to the constitution, the principal duty of the vice president is assisting the president in their duties. The vice president also assumes the presidency in case the office becomes vacant until a new president is elected by the NPC. The incumbent vice president of China is Han Zheng, who took office in 10 March 2023.


History

The office was first established under the Beiyang government when Li Yuanhong became the first Vice President of the country when the Republic was founded in 1912. The post was abolished in 1917, but it was restored after the end of the Nationalist government as Li Zongren became the first modern Vice President under the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China. The office of the vice president along with the government of the Republic of China, was relocated to Taiwan in 1949, where it exists today. The PRC post, which began as the state vice chairman was first established under the 1954 Constitution, together with the chairman. It was, along with the state chairman, abolished in the new Constitution adopted by the
4th National People's Congress The 4th National People's Congress () was in session from 1975 to 1978. It held only one session, in January 1975. There were 2864 deputies to this Congress. The Congress passed the 1975 Constitution of the People's Republic of China. Elected st ...
(NPC) in 1975. The office, now called the vice president, was restored in the 1982 constitution together with the presidency. The new constitution mandated term limits for the office, stipulating the president and vice president could not serve more than two consecutive terms. On March 11, 2018,
the first session ''The First Session'' is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on August 26, 1997 on Sympathy for the Record Industry. The EP features the entire recording of the band's first studio session on March 17, 1990 and also a twenty- ...
of the
13th National People's Congress The 13th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China was elected from October 2017 to February 2018 and will be in session in the five-year period from 2018 to 2023. It is scheduled to hold five sessions in this period, occurri ...
, 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.


Selection


Eligibility

Article 79 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for being elected for the vice 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.


Election

According to the Organic Law of the National People's Congress (NPC), constitutionally China's
highest organ of state power The highest organ of state power is the representative organ in communist states that functions as the sole branch of government according to the principle of unified power. For example, the government of the Soviet Union was designated as the hig ...
, the vice president is nominated by the NPC Presidium, the Congress's executive organ. However, the nomination is effectively made by the Chinese Communist Party, with the decisions being made among Party leaders. 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. After the nomination, the vice president is elected by the NPC, which also has the power to remove the vice president and other state officers from office. Elections and removals are decided by majority vote. The length of the vice president's term of office is the same as the NPC, which is 5 years. Since 2018, the vice president is required to recite the constitutional oath of office before assuming office.


Powers

The vice president's duties constitutionally include assisting the president, and exercise part of their functions and powers on behalf of the president. The vice president also becomes the president in case the office becomes vacant until a new president is elected by the NPC. In case the vice presidency becomes vacant, the NPC elects a new vice president. In practice, the position of the vice president is mostly ceremonial; Vice presidents
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...
, Zeng Qinghong and Xi Jinping have been members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Central Secretariat, the country's main decision making bodies; these three served concurrently as the first secretary of the Secretariat, in charge of party affairs. The vice president may play a major role in foreign affairs. For instance, the vice president generally sits on the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, a policy coordination body of the CCP. The vice president has also typically sits on the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs. Therefore, while the vice president may not actually have substantive powers as defined in the Constitution, the office nonetheless carries significance and prestige. The holders of the office have all been individuals with a degree of political clout.


List of vice presidents

; Generations of leadership:


Central People's Government (1949–1954)

; Vice Chairmen of the Central People's Government : (co-serving, 1 October 1949 – 27 September 1954) # Zhu De #
Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary, politician, and theorist. He was Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee from 1954 to 1959, First Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 1956 to 1966 and C ...
# Song Qingling # Li Jishen # Zhang Lan # Gao Gang (until his suicide on 17 August 1954)


The 1st Constitution (1954–1975)


The 4th Constitution (1982–present)


See also

* Order of precedence in China * List of current vice presidents and designated acting presidents


References

{{People's Republic of China politics Vice President Vice presidents 1954 establishments in China