Vice President of the People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国副主席 |
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Type | largely ceremonial office |
Residence | Zhongnanhai (informal) |
Seat | Beijing |
Nominator | the Presidium of the National People's Congress |
Appointer | National People's Congress |
Term length | five years, renewable once consecutively |
Inaugural holder |
Zhu De as the first President under the 1954 Constitution Ulanhu as the first President under the 1982 Constitution |
Formation | 27 September 1954 18 June 1983 |
Abolished | January 1975 - December 1982 |
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 ceremonial position in the government of the People's Republic of China.
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.