List of presidents of

the People's Republic

of China

The president of the People's Republic of China was creat ed in 1954 when t he first
const it ut ion consolidat ed t he syst em of government in t he People's Republic of China. At t he
t ime, t he t it le was t ranslat ed int o English as State Chairman. The posit ion was abolished
bet ween 1975 and 1982 wit h t he funct ions of head of st at e being performed by t he Chairman of
t he St anding Commit t ee of t he Nat ional People's Congress. The presidency was revived under
t he fourt h const it ut ion in 1982.

List of heads of state

Generations of leadership
   Mao Zedong Administ rat ion

   Deng Xiaoping Administ rat ion

   Jiang Zemin Administ rat ion

   Hu–Wen Administ rat ion

   Xi–Li Administ rat ion

Central People's Government (1949–1954)
Chairman of the Central People's Government

Name Paramount
Portrait Term of office Vice Chairmen
(Lifespan) leader

Zhu De

Liu Shaoqi

1 27
Soong Ching-ling

Oct ober Sept ember Himself

Li Jishen

Mao Zedong
1949 1954
– 毛泽东

Zhang Lan

Gao Gang
(1893–1976)
Mao also held more powerful offices as Chairman of t he
Chinese Communist Part y and Chairman of t he Cent ral
Milit ary Commission, making him t he Paramount leader of
China.

The 1st Constitution (1954–1975)

Chairman of the People's Republic of China
 Name
Paramount
Portrait (Lifespan)
Term of office NPC Vice Chairmen
leader
Constituency

Mao Zedong

毛泽东
27
27 April
1 (1893–1976)
Sept ember I Zhu De
1959
Beijing At - 1954
large

3
Liu Shaoqi
27 April
刘少奇
1959
January II
1965 Soong Ching-ling
Mao Zedong
2 (1898–1969)

31 Dong Biwu
Beijing At - 2 January
Oct ober III
large 1965[1]
1968[2]

Dong Biwu

–
董必武

24
February
17
January III Vacant
(1886–1975)

1972 1975
Hubei At -large

The 2nd and 3rd Constitutions (1975–1982)

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
 Name

Paramount
Portrait (Lifespan)
Term of office NPC Vice Chairmen
leader
Constituency

Soong Ching-
Zhu De
ling[3]

–
朱德 17
January
6 July
IV
Dong Biwu[3]
Mao Zedong
(1886–1976) 1976 (died 2 April
1975
Sichuan At -large 1975)

and ot hers

6 July 5 March Mao Zedong

IV
1976 1978 Hua Guofeng
Soong Ching-ling

–
宋庆龄 Aft er Zhu De's deat h, Soong Ching-ling served as act ing
Chairwoman of t he St anding Commit t ee of t he Nat ional
(1893–1981)
People's Congress for t he remainder of t he 4t h Nat ional
Shanghai At -large
People's Congress's t erm. She was a member of t he
Revolut ionary Commit t ee of t he Kuomint ang.

Ye Jianying

–
叶剑英 5 March 18 June
V
Soong Ching-ling

Hua Guofeng
Deng
(1897–1986) 1978 1983 and ot hers
Xiaoping
PLA

Honorary Chairwoman of the People's Republic of China

Name
Portrait (Birth–Death)
Term of office NPC Notes
Constituency

Short ly before her

deat h, Soong Ching-ling,
a member of t he
Soong Ching-ling

–
宋庆龄
16 May 28 May
V
Revolut ionary
Commit t ee of t he
(1893–1981)
1981 1981
Kuomint ang, was named
Shanghai At -large
Honorary Chairwoman of
t he People's Republic
of China.
The 4th Constitution (1983–present)
President of the People's Republic of China
 Name

NPC - Paramount
Portrait (Lifespan)
Term of office Vice President
(Elect ion) leader
Constituency

18 June 8 April VI - Deng

Ulanhu
1983 1988 (62.5%) Xiaoping

During Li's t erm, China undert ook major reforms in foreign

policy began opening t o t he out side world. Li, who t ook on an
Li Xiannian import ant role in t he oust er of t he Gang of Four, became t he

3
李先念 first President of t he People's Republic t o visit t he Unit ed
(1909–1991) St at es. He was also t he first st at e president t o visit Nort h
Hubei At -large Korea. In 1984, Li met wit h U.S. President Ronald Reagan
during Reagan's visit t o China, not ably discussing t he st at us
of Taiwan wit h t he President . Aft er leaving office as
President , Li was t hen named Chairman of t he Nat ional
Commit t ee of t he CPPCC.[4]

Deng
9 April 27 March VII -
Wang Zhen Xiaoping

1988 1993 (66.8%)

Jiang Zemin

Yang Shangkun
An elder from t he part y's revolut ionary days, Yang was a

4
杨尚昆 polit ical survivor of t he Cult ural Revolut ion. During his
presidency, Yang promot ed economic reform but opposed
(1907–1998)
polit ical liberalizat ion. Yang reached t he height of his polit ical
PLA
career aft er t he Tiananmen Square prot est s of 1989, but his
organized opposit ion t o Jiang Zemin's leadership led Deng t o
force Yang t o ret ire. Yang served as Vice Chairman of t he
Cent ral Milit ary Commission bet ween 1983 and 1993.

5 Jiang Zemin
27
江泽民 March
15 March
1998
VIII -
(68.4%)
Rong Yiren Himself

(born 1926)
1993

Shanghai At -large 15
15 March IX -
March Hu Jint ao Himself
2003 (71.5%)
1998

Once t he mayor and part y chief of Shanghai, Jiang's

assumpt ion of t he presidency in 1993 marked a ret urn t o t he
 cent ralizat ion of major t it les at t he nat ional level – Jiang
also held more powerful offices as General Secret ary of t he
Chinese Communist Part y and Chairman of t he Cent ral
Milit ary Commission. Under Jiang's leadership, China
experienced subst ant ial development al growt h wit h reforms,
saw t he peaceful ret urn of Hong Kong from t he Unit ed
Kingdom and Macau from Port ugal, and improved it s
relat ions wit h t he out side world while t he Communist Part y
maint ained it s t ight cont rol over t he government . Jiang was
crit icized for being t oo concerned about his personal image
at home, and t oo conciliat ory t owards Russia and t he Unit ed
St at es abroad.[5]

15
15 March X-
March Zeng Qinghong Himself
2008 (72.9%)
2003

15
14 March XI -
March Xi Jinping Himself
2013 (70.27%)
2008

Hu Jintao Hu, long having been anoint ed by Deng as Jiang's successor,

胡锦涛 t ook over t he presidency in 2003, and also held t he offices

of General Secret ary of t he Communist Part y and Chairman
(born 1942)

6 of t he Cent ral Milit ary Commission. Hu presided over nearly a

Tibet At -large (unt il
decade of consist ent economic growt h and a relat ively
2008)

smoot h recovery from t he Global Financial Crisis. China

Jiangsu At -large (from
emerged as a major world power during Hu's t erm, as China
2008)
began t aking on a more prominent role globally, such as at
t he G20 and global effort s at combat ing climat e change.
Hu's chief domest ic focus was building a more egalit arian
societ y focused on improving living st andards for
disadvant aged populat ions.[6] During Hu's t enure, China's
influence in Africa, Lat in America, and ot her developing
count ries increased.[7]

7 Xi Jinping 14
习近平 March
17 March
2018
XII -
(72.21%)
Li Yuanchao Himself

(born 1953)
2013
 Shanghai At -large (unt il 17 Incumbent XIII - Wang Qishan Himself
2018)
March (71.10%)
Inner Mongolia At -large 2018
(from 2018) Xi became President in 2013, and also held t he offices of
General Secret ary of t he Communist Part y and Chairman of
t he Cent ral Milit ary Commission. Xi increased t he profile of
t he office of president in foreign affairs, for example
receiving ot her heads of st at e during t he 2015 China Vict ory
Day Parade, going on high-profile visit s t o t he Unit ed
Kingdom and t he Unit ed St at es, and making an import ant
address at t he Global Economic Forum in Davos, Swit zerland.
Term limit s for t he president were removed in 2018.

Timeline

Living former presidents

As of Oct ober 2021, t here are t wo living former president s:

President Term of office Date of birth Image

Jiang Zemin 1993–2003 August 17, 1926

Hu Jint ao 2003–2013 December 21, 1942

References

1. "National People's Congress Notice 1" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140130094110/http://news.xinh

uanet.com/ziliao/2004-10/15/content_2093447.htm) . People's Daily. 3 January 1965. Archived from
the original (http://news.xinhuanet.com/ziliao/2004-10/15/content_2093447.htm) on 30 January
2014. Retrieved 2013-11-24.

2. "Communique of the expanded 12th plenary session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China" (http://cpc.people.com.cn/GB/64162/64168/64560/65355/4442085.html) . People's
Daily Online. 3 January 1965. Retrieved 2013-11-24.

盛), Yonghua (永華) (2006). Chronological Biography of Soong Ching-ling, 1893-1981 [宋慶齡年
3. Sheng (
譜 1893-1981], in Chinese. Guangzhou: Guangdong People's Publishing [廣東人民出版社]. p. 2:1799.
ISBN 7218052649.

4. Anderson, Kurt (7 May 1984). "History Beckons Again" (https://web.archive.org/web/20050118234636/

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954285,00.html) . Time. Archived from the original
(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954285,00.html) on January 18, 2005. Retrieved
19 August 2011.

5. Tomoyuki Kojima. China's Omnidirectional Diplomacy: Cooperation with all, Emphasis on Major Powers.
Asia-Pacific Review, 1469–2937, Volume 8, Issue 2, 2001

6. "Kuhn, Robert Lawrence: Hu's Political Philosophies" (https://web.archive.org/web/20090325103630/htt

p://www.esnips.com/doc/907de9f2-a212-46b3-9efe-d23813bc03f3/Kuhn-Media-Press-Hu-Jintao.pdf)
(PDF). Esnips.com. Archived from the original (http://www.esnips.com/doc/907de9f2-a212-46b3-9efe-d
23813bc03f3/Kuhn-Media-Press-Hu-Jintao.pdf) (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
 7. World Savvy Monitor: China and the World - A foreign policy overview (https://monitor.worldsavvy.org/in
dex.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126&Itemid=184)

See also

Vice President of t he People's Republic of China

List of premiers of t he People's Republic of China

List of vice premiers of t he People's Republic of China

Paramount leader - a informal list of t hose who have been considered t he highest leader of
t he part y and t he People's Republic of China

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=List_of_presidents_of_the_People%27s_Repu
blic_of_China&oldid=1051069808"

Last edited 11 days ago by Vẵng Đ u

Wikipedia

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.