Vice President of the People's Republic of China

The vice president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the vice president of China, is the deputy to the president of the People's Republic of China.

The office 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 principle 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 of 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 (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.

Vice President Li Yuanchao was a member of the CCP Politburo until 2017, but not the Standing Committee.

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. Wang Qishan was elected as the vice president during the session; he was a retired member of the Politburo Standing Committee at the time of his ascension. Han Zheng, who succeeded Wang Qishan as the vice president in 2023, was also a retired member of the politburo standing committee at the time of his ascension.

Selection 
According to the Constitution, the president must be a Chinese citizen with full electoral rights who has reached the age of 45.

Formally, the vice president is elected by the National People's Congress (NPC) in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution. According to the Organic Law of the NPC, the vice president is nominated by the NPC Presidium, the Congress's executive organ. The vice president is then elected by the National People's Congress (NPC), constitutionally China's highest state body, 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 term of office of the vice president is the same of that of the NPC.

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 Zeng Qinghong, Hu Jintao, 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-ranked 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
 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 

 Political position ranking of the People's Republic of China
 List of current vice presidents

References 

 
Vice President
Vice presidents
1954 establishments in China