Vice President of the People's Republic of China

Vice President of the People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国副主席
Incumbent Li Yuanchao since 14 March 2013
Residence	Zhongnanhai
Appointer	National People's Congress
Term length	five years, renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holder	Zhu De
Formation	1954–1975 June 18, 1983
Website	Presidency

The Vice President of the People's Republic of China (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国副主席; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國副主席; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Fùzhǔxí), formerly translated as Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China from 1954 to 1975, or abbreviated Guójiā Fùzhǔxí 国家副主席, literally State Vice-chairman) 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. 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.

Currently, Vice-President Li Yuanchao is the member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, but not the Standing Committee.

List of vice presidents

Generations of leadership

      First Administration       Second Administration       Third Administration       Hu–Wen Administration       Xi–Li Administration

Central People's Government (1949–1954)

Vice Chairmen of the Central People's Government

• Zhu De, Liu Shaoqi, Song Qingling, Li Jishen, Zhang Lan, Gao Gang

Co-serving (1 October 1949 – 27 September 1954)

The 1st Constitution (1954–1975)

Vice Chairmen of the People's Republic China

Portrait		Name (BirthcDeath) Constituency		Term of office		NPC	Chairman
1		Zhu De 朱德 (1898–1969) Sichuan At-large		27 September 1954	27 April 1959	I	Mao Zedong
				The first Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China.
2	52px50px	Song Qingling 宋庆龄 (1893–1981) Shanghai At-large	Dong Biwu 董必武 (1886–1975) Hubei At-large	27 April 1959	17 January 1975	II · III	Liu Shaoqi
				Served jointly as Vice Chairmen.
Vacancy by ascension and post abolished

The 4th Constitution (1982–present)

Vice President of the People's Republic China

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office		NPC	President
3		Ulanhu 乌兰夫 (1906–1988) Inner Mongolia At-large	18 June 1983	8 April 1988	VI	Li Xiannian
			The first Vice President under the 4th Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
4	100px	Wang Zhen 王震 (1908–1993) Xinjiang At-large	18 June 1983	12 March 1993	VII	Yang Shangkun
			The second Vice President under the 4th Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
5		Rong Yiren 荣毅仁 (1916–2005) Shanghai At-large	12 March 1993	15 March 1998	VIII	Jiang Zemin
			The third Vice President under the 4th Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
6		Hu Jintao 胡锦涛 (1942– ) Guizhou At-large	15 March 1998	15 March 2003	IX	Jiang Zemin
			The fourth Vice President under the 4th Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the first Vice President to become President.
7		Zeng Qinghong 曾庆红 (1939– ) Jiangxi At-large	15 March 2003	15 March 2008	X	Hu Jintao
			The fifth Vice President under the 4th Constitution of the People's Republic of China.
8		Xi Jinping 习近平 (1953– ) Shanghai At-large	15 March 2008	14 March 2013	XI	Hu Jintao
			The sixth Vice President under the 4th Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the second Vice President to become President.
9		Li Yuanchao 李源潮 (1950– ) Jiangsu At-large	13 March 2013	Incumbent	XII	Xi Jinping
			The seventh Vice President under the 4th Constitution of the People's Republic of China.

See also

• President of the People's Republic of China
  • List of Presidents of the People's Republic of China
• Political position ranking of the People's Republic of China
• Paramount leader
• List of premiers of the People's Republic of China
• List of vice premiers of the People's Republic of China
• List of current Vice Presidents

External links

• The President's Official Website