List of presidents of the People's Republic of China

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The president of the People's Republic of China, called 国家主席 (Guójiā Zhǔxí) in short, was created in 1954 when the first constitution consolidated the system of government in the People's Republic of China. At the time, the title was translated into English as State Chairman. The position was abolished between 1975 and 1982 with the functions of head of state being performed by the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The presidency was revived under the fourth constitution in 1982.

List of heads of state[]

Generations of leadership

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

Central People's Government (1949–1954)[]

Chairman of the Central People's Government

Portrait		Name (Lifespan)		Term of office		Vice Chairmen	Paramount leader
–		Mao Zedong 毛泽东 (1893–1976)		1 October 1949	27 September 1954	Zhu De Liu Shaoqi Soong Ching-ling Li Jishen Zhang Lan Gao Gang	Himself
				Mao also held more powerful offices as Chairman of the Communist Party of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, making him the Paramount leader of China.

The 1st Constitution (1954–1975)[]

Chairman of the People's Republic of China

Portrait		Name (Lifespan) Constituency		Term of office		NPC	Vice Chairmen	Paramount leader
1		Mao Zedong 毛泽东 (1893–1976) Beijing At-large		27 September 1954	27 April 1959	I	Zhu De	Mao Zedong
2		Liu Shaoqi 刘少奇 (1898–1969) Beijing At-large		27 April 1959	3 January 1965	II	Soong Ching-ling Dong Biwu
				2 January 1965[1]	31 October 1968[2]	III
–		Dong Biwu 董必武 (1886–1975) Hubei At-large		24 February 1972	17 January 1975	III	Vacant

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

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

Portrait		Name (Lifespan) Constituency		Term of office		NPC	Vice Chairmen	Paramount leader
–		Zhu De 朱德 (1886–1976) Sichuan At-large		17 January 1975	6 July 1976	IV	Soong Ching-ling[3] Dong Biwu[3] (died 2 April 1975) and others	Mao Zedong
–		Soong Ching-ling 宋庆龄 (1893–1981) Shanghai At-large		6 July 1976	5 March 1978	IV		Mao Zedong Hua Guofeng
				After Zhu De's death, Soong Ching-ling served as acting Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the remainder of the 4th National People's Congress's term.[citation needed] She was a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang.
–		Ye Jianying 叶剑英 (1897–1986) PLA		5 March 1978	18 June 1983	V	Soong Ching-ling and others	Hua Guofeng Deng Xiaoping

Honorary Chairwoman of the People's Republic of China

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office		NPC	Notes
–		Soong Ching-ling 宋庆龄 (1893–1981) Shanghai At-large	16 May 1981	28 May 1981	V	Shortly before her death, Soong Ching-ling, a member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang, was named Honorary Chairwoman of the People's Republic of China.

The 4th Constitution (1983–present)[]

President of the People's Republic of China

Portrait		Name (Lifespan) Constituency	Term of office		NPC - (Election)	Vice President	Paramount leader
3		Li Xiannian 李先念 (1909–1991) Hubei At-large	18 June 1983	8 April 1988	VI - (62.5%)	Ulanhu	Deng Xiaoping
			During Li's term, China undertook major reforms in foreign policy began opening to the outside world. Li, who took on an important role in the ouster of the Gang of Four, became the first President of the People's Republic to visit the United States. He was also the first state president to visit North Korea. In 1984, Li met with U.S. President Ronald Reagan during Reagan's visit to China, notably discussing the status of Taiwan with the President. After leaving office as President, Li was then named Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC.[4]
4		Yang Shangkun 杨尚昆 (1907–1998) PLA	9 April 1988	27 March 1993	VII - (66.8%)	Wang Zhen	Deng Xiaoping Jiang Zemin
			An elder from the party's revolutionary days, Yang was a political survivor of the Cultural Revolution. During his presidency, Yang promoted economic reform but opposed political liberalization. Yang reached the height of his political career after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, but his organized opposition to Jiang Zemin's leadership led Deng to force Yang to retire. Yang served as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission between 1983 and 1993.
5		Jiang Zemin 江泽民 (born 1926) Shanghai At-large	27 March 1993	15 March 1998	VIII - (68.4%)	Rong Yiren	Himself
			15 March 1998	15 March 2003	IX - (71.5%)	Hu Jintao	Himself
			Once the mayor and party chief of Shanghai, Jiang's assumption of the presidency in 1993 marked a return to the centralization of major titles at the national level – Jiang also held more powerful offices as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Under Jiang's leadership, China experienced substantial developmental growth with reforms, saw the peaceful return of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom and Macau from Portugal, and improved its relations with the outside world while the Communist Party maintained its tight control over the government. Jiang was criticized for being too concerned about his personal image at home, and too conciliatory towards Russia and the United States abroad.[5]
6		Hu Jintao 胡锦涛 (born 1942) Tibet At-large (until 2008) Jiangsu At-large (from 2008)	15 March 2003	15 March 2008	X - (72.9%)	Zeng Qinghong	Himself
			15 March 2008	14 March 2013	XI - (70.27%)	Xi Jinping	Himself
			Hu, long having been anointed by Deng as Jiang's successor, took over the presidency in 2003, and also held the offices of General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Hu presided over nearly a decade of consistent economic growth and a relatively smooth recovery from the Global Financial Crisis. China emerged as a major world power during Hu's term, as China began taking on a more prominent role globally, such as at the G20 and global efforts at combating climate change. Hu's chief domestic focus was building a more egalitarian society focused on improving living standards for disadvantaged populations.[6] During Hu's tenure, China's influence in Africa, Latin America, and other developing countries increased.[7]
7		Xi Jinping 习近平 (born 1953) Shanghai At-large (until 2018) Inner Mongolia At-large (from 2018)	14 March 2013	17 March 2018	XII - (72.21%)	Li Yuanchao	Himself
			17 March 2018	Incumbent	XIII - (71.10%)	Wang Qishan	Himself
			Xi became President in 2013, and also held the offices of General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. Xi increased the profile of the office of president in foreign affairs, for example receiving other heads of state during the 2015 China Victory Day Parade, going on high-profile visits to the United Kingdom and the United States, and making an important address at the Global Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Term limits for the president were removed in 2018.

Timeline[]

Living former presidents[]

As of September 2021, there are two living former presidents:

President	Term of office	Date of birth	Image
Jiang Zemin	1993–2003	(1926-08-17) August 17, 1926 (age 95)
Hu Jintao	2003–2013	(1942-12-21) December 21, 1942 (age 78)

References[]

See also[]

• Vice President of the People's Republic of China
• List of premiers of the People's Republic of China
• List of vice premiers of the People's Republic of China
• Paramount leader - a informal list of those who have been considered the highest leader of the party and the People's Republic of China