Part Four :The System of State Presidency

1. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 1.The President of PRC in brief ◆ The President of the People's Republic of China formerly called Chairman of the People's Republic of China from 1954 to 1975, (literally State Chairman) is a ceremonial office and a part of State organs under the (NPC) and it is the head of state of the (PRC). ◆The office was created by the 1982 Constitution and that same year Li Xiannian was elected president. Formally, the President is elected by the National People's Congress in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution.

2. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 1.The President of PRC in brief ◆The PRC President is a state organ instead of an administrative post. Also it is an important national symbol serving as the nominal head of state. ◆ Currently, President Xi Jinping holds the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, making him China's Paramount Leader.

3. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 1.The President of PRC in brief ◆The term Zhuxi refers to the chairman in a committee, and was translated as such prior to the 1982 constitution (as in Chairman Mao Zedong, although Mao's title refers primarily to the position of Party Chairman which he held from 1943 until his death in 1976). ◆The official translation switched to President after 1982 in conformity with Western terminology.

4. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 1.The President of PRC in brief The president exercises the power of the head of the state, according to decisions of the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee. In foreign affairs, the president represents the People's Republic of China and enjoys the highest right of representation of the state. In terms of procedural, ceremonial and symbolic significance, the presidency is the highest position of the state. In essence, however, the presidency does not decide any state affairs but acts according to decisions of the NPC and its Standing Committee.

5. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 2. The Election of the President • Both the president and vice president are elected by the NPC. The candidates must be citizens of the PRC and must have reached the age of 45. • Candidates are proposed by the NPC presidium for deliberation by all the deputies. Then the presidium officially decides on the candidates, one for the presidency and one for the vice presidency, for election through voting by the NPC. the single-candidate practice will gradually be replaced by multi-candidate election. • the power of dismissal of the president and vice president rests with the NPC.

6. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 3. Functions of the President Domestic functions and powers: • Promulgating laws, • appointing and removing the premier, vice premiers, state councilors, ministers of ministries and state commissions, auditor-general, and secretary-general, • conferring state medals and honorary titles, • issuing order of special amnesty, • proclaiming martial law and a state of war as well as issuing order of mobilization, according to decisions of the NPC and its Standing Committee.

7. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 3. Functions and powers in foreign affairs: • Receiving foreign diplomatic representatives on behalf of the People's Republic of China, • appointing or recalling China's plenipotentiary representatives abroad, • ratifying or abrogating treaties and important agreements concluded with foreign countries in pursuance of the decisions of the Standing Committee of the NPC.

8. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 3. Functions and powers in foreign affairs: The Constitution adopted in 1982 also stipulates that the vice president assists the president in his work and may exercise certain functions and powers entrusted by the 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 one.

9. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 4. In general, the functions and powers of the president 1. The power of promulgating laws. Laws adopted by NPC or its Standing Committee shall go into effect only after being promulgated by the president, which is the last act in the legislative processes in the PRC.2. The power of issuing orders. The appointment and removal of the premier of the State Council, the issue of the order of special amnesty, the proclamation of martial law, a state of war and general mobilization can only be made or announced by the president. 3. The power of making appointment or removals, i.e., the power to appoint or remove officials constituting the State Council.4. The power of conferring titles, i.e., the power to confer state honors.

10. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 5. Relation to the state ◆As the President is legally China's head of state, he is responsible for China's image. ◆Since 1993, the President has also been the General Secretary of CPC who is generally responsible for establishing general policy and direction of the state and leaves responsibility for the implementation details to the Premier of the People's Republic of China, the head of government.

11. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 6. Relation to the Party Although the presidency of China is a symbolic position only, since the 1990s, it has been general practice for the President to also serve as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. It is key for the general secretary to seal his diplomatic power by adding the presidency to his powerful collection of titles. This effectively shows the Communist leader's national representation.

12. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 7. Relation to the military ◆The relationship between the President and the military is more difficult to discern. The potential for conflict is lessened when, as during the Jiang era, the President is also Chairman of the 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 Army a degree of autonomy. This autonomy, however, is limited by the existence of political officers.

13. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 7. Relation to the military 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, especially since the two commissions have identical membership.

14. Part Four :The System of State Presidency 7. Relation to the military 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.

15. The end , Thank you!