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

The chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), which is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of China.

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
全国人民代表大会常务委员会委员长
National Emblem of China
Flag of China
Incumbent Zhao Leji since March 10, 2023
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
Type	Presiding officer
Status	National-level official
Member of	Council of Chairpersons
Nominator	Presidium of the National People's Congress
Appointer	National People's Congress
Term length	5 years, renewable once consecutively
Constituting instrument	Constitution of China
Formation	27 September 1954; 70 years ago (1954-09-27)
First holder	Liu Shaoqi
Deputy	Vice Chairpersons Secretary-General
Salary	CN¥150,000 per annum est. (2015)[1]
Website	www.npc.gov.cn

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
Simplified Chinese	全国人民代表大会常务委员会委员长
Traditional Chinese	全國人民代表大會常務委員會委員長
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Quánguó Rénmín Dàibiǎo Dàhuì Chángwù Wěiyuánhuì Wěiyuánzhǎng
Officially abbreviated as
Simplified Chinese	全国人大常委会委员长
Traditional Chinese	全國人大常委會委員長
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Quánguó Réndà Chángwěihuì Wěiyuánzhǎng

The chairman is formally nominated by the Presidium of the NPC during a session and approved by the delegations of the NPC, though in reality is chosen within the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).^[2] The chairman presides over the work of the NPCSC and convenes and presides over its meetings. The chairman is assisted by the vice chairpersons and secretary-general of the NPCSC, who together makeup the Council of Chairpersons.^[3] A vice chairperson may be delegated to exercise some of the chairman's powers by the chairman. In the case that the chairman becomes incapacitated, NPCSC temporarily elects one of the vice chairpersons until the chairman is able to resume their work or a new chairman is elected by the NPC.^{[4][non-primary source needed]} The position holds reserve constitutional powers under the 1982 revision of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. As stipulated in Article 84 of the Constitution, should both the president and vice president become incapacitated, and the National People's Congress is unable to elect a timely replacement, the chairman of the NPCSC will act as president.^{[4][non-primary source needed]} The chairman leads the Leading Party Members Group of the NPCSC, which is responsible for the implementation of CCP Central Committee policies in the NPCSC.^[5]

From 1998 to 2013, the position was ranked second in the hierarchy of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP, since Li Peng was barred from seeking a third term as premier in 1998. In the political order of precedence, the chairman ranks below the CCP general secretary (paramount leader) and president (state representative).^[6] The ranking of this position is not necessarily reflective of its actual power, which varies depending on the officeholder. The incumbent chairman is Zhao Leji, who is the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

History

During the drafting of the PRC constitution, there were debates on which title to use for the head of the NPC Standing Committee. On 23 March 1954, at the first meeting of the Constitution Drafting Committee, the Central Committee of the CCP put forward a draft that used the title "speaker" (议长). During the draft discussion, there were various discussions on whether to use "speaker" or "chairman" (委员长) for the title of the post. Those who used the "chairman" title argued that it would be unpopular as Chiang Kai-shek also used that title, while those supporting it saw no issue. There were also ones proposing the use of "chairman" (主席), similar to the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, but others argued against this by saying the title was the same as the chairman of the People's Republic of China, meaning that the masses could easily confuse them.^[7]

During the discussion Tian Jiaying, the deputy secretary-general of the Constitution Drafting Committee, said that the NPC is an organ of power rather than just a deliberative organ, and that the "speaker" title is not commensurate with its nature. Eventually, the word "chairman" (委员长) was adopted. The office came into existence with the adoption of the 1954 Constitution, with Liu Shaoqi becoming its first holder.^[7]

From 1975 to 1983, the chairman of the Standing Committee served as state representative of the People's Republic of China, as the presidency had been written out of the 1975 constitution and was also excluded from the 1978 draft; the presidency was restored in 1982.^[8] Theoretically, during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, the officeholder at the time, Wan Li, had the power to call an emergency session of the NPC to resolve the issue constitutionally. However, Wan's freedom of movement was restricted, and ultimately rendered powerless in the situation.^[9]

Between 1993 and 1998, the office was held by Qiao Shi, who was the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standing Committee. Qiao tried to get rid off the NPC's "rubber stamp" reputation and turn it into an institution with real power in establishing the rule of law.^[10] On 16 March 1998, Li Peng was elected the chairman of the NPCSC, replacing Qiao Shi. However, he was elected with less than 90% of the vote, with around three hundred delegates not backing him, despite the fact that he was the only candidate.^[11]

List of chairpersons

Multiple terms in office, consecutive or otherwise, are listed in the Term column.

Generations of leadership

•   Mao Zedong Administration
•   Deng Xiaoping Administration
•   Jiang Zemin Administration
•   Hu Jintao Administration
•   Xi Jinping Administration

No.	Chairperson		Term	Took office	Left office	Political party
1		Liu Shaoqi 刘少奇	1st	September 27, 1954	April 27, 1959	Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
2		Zhu De 朱德	2nd	April 27, 1959	January 3, 1965
			3rd	January 3, 1965	January 17, 1975
			4th	January 17, 1975	July 6, 1976
Office vacant July 7, 1976–March 5, 1978[a]
3		Ye Jianying 叶剑英	5th	March 5, 1978	June 18, 1983	Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
4		Peng Zhen 彭真	6th	June 18, 1983	April 8, 1988
5		Wan Li 万里	7th	April 8, 1988	March 27, 1993
6		Qiao Shi 乔石	8th	March 27, 1993	March 16, 1998
7		Li Peng 李鹏	9th	March 16, 1998	March 15, 2003
8		Wu Bangguo 吴邦国	10th	March 15, 2003	March 15, 2008
			11th	March 15, 2008	March 14, 2013
9		Zhang Dejiang 张德江	12th	March 14, 2013	March 17, 2018
10		Li Zhanshu 栗战书	13th	March 17, 2018	March 10, 2023
11		Zhao Leji 赵乐际	14th	March 10, 2023	Incumbent

Timeline

Notes

1. During this vacancy Soong Ching-ling performed the functions and duties of the chairperson as the first vice chairperson.

Further reading

• Truex, Rory (2016). Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Responsiveness in Modern China. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107172432.
• Mackerras, Colin; McMillen, Donald; Watson, Andrew (2001). Dictionary of the Politics of the People's Republic of China. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415250672.