Vice President of the People's Republic of China


The Vice President of the People's Republic of China, formerly translated as Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China from 1954 to 1975, is a senior position in the government of the People's Republic of China.

Selection and Powers

The office was created by the 1982 constitution. Formally, the Vice 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, which also theoretically has the power to recall the Vice President.
By law, the Vice President must be a Chinese citizen of 45 years of age or older. Prior to March 2018, he or she cannot serve for over two terms, a term being the equivalent of one session of the NPC, which is five years.
The Vice President's duties include assisting the President, and replacing him should he resign or die in office. In reality the position of the Vice President is mostly ceremonial; Vice Presidents Zeng Qinghong, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping have been members of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee 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 Foreign Affairs Leading Group, a policy coordination body of the Communist Party. The Vice President has also typically sits on the Central Coordination Group for 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.
Vice President Li Yuanchao was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China until 2017, but not the Standing Committee.
His successor, Wang Qishan, was a retired member of the Standing Committee at the time of his ascension.

List of vice presidents

; Generations of leadership:

[Central People's [Government of the People's Republic of China (1949–54)|Central People's Government]] (1949–1954)

; Vice Chairmen of the Central People's Government
  1. Zhu De
  2. Liu Shaoqi
  3. Song Qingling
  4. Li Jishen
  5. Zhang Lan
  6. Gao Gang

    The [1954 Constitution of the [People's Republic of China|1st Constitution]] (1954–1975)

The [1982 Constitution of the [People's Republic of China|4th Constitution]] (1982–present)