Constitutional Amendment: Presidential Term Limits Removed
The National People's Congress voted 2,958 to 2 to remove the two-term limit on the presidency, enabling Xi Jinping to serve as President indefinitely; the amendment was preceded by rare public dissent that was quickly censored online.
The Amendment
Article 79 of the PRC Constitution had since 1982 limited the President to two consecutive five-year terms — a provision widely understood as introduced to prevent a return to Maoist-style lifelong rule. On March 11, 2018, the National People's Congress voted 2,958 to 2 (with 3 abstentions) to remove this limit, enabling Xi Jinping to serve as President indefinitely. The amendment also enshrined "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" in the constitution.
Public Reaction and Censorship
Rare public dissent appeared online before the vote: Winnie the Pooh images (a long-running meme comparing Xi's appearance to the cartoon bear) were blocked; the letter "N" was briefly censored on Weibo as a mathematical symbol for "unlimited" terms; phrases like "I disagree" were filtered. Tsinghua University law professor Xu Zhangrun published a widely-shared essay opposing the move, for which he was later detained. The internet discussion was rapidly suppressed but not before spreading internationally.
Historical Significance
The removal of term limits was widely described as the most significant constitutional change since the 1982 reform. It was widely regarded as a definitive reversal of the post-Mao collective leadership consensus and the institutional safeguards built after the Cultural Revolution. The amendment paved the way for Xi's extended tenure; he has since become the longest-serving General Secretary of the post-Mao era. It transformed China's political trajectory from a system of routinised succession toward what many analysts describe as personal authoritarian rule — a trajectory whose long-term consequences remain unresolved.
Narrative Comparison
| Source | Narrative |
|---|---|
| PRC Official Narrative | The constitutional amendment was a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with a thorough understanding of the changing domestic and international situation. The amendment aimed to improve the state leadership system by aligning the term of the President with that of the General Secretary of the CCP Central Committee and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, institutionally guaranteeing the Party's long-term governing capacity and continuity and stability in state governance. The simultaneous enshrinement of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the constitution reflected the common will of the entire Party and people to uphold the centralised leadership of the Party Central Committee. The amendment was passed by an overwhelming vote of the National People's Congress, the highest organ of state power, expressing the solemn will of the Chinese people. |
| U.S. Official Position | The U.S. government viewed the amendment as a clear signal that China's political system was moving toward personal concentration of power. Statements from the State Department and members of Congress noted that the removal of term limits undermined the institutional checks built during China's reform era, increased the risk of opacity and unpredictability in Chinese governance, and raised broad international concern about the direction of China's foreign policy. The 2017 U.S. National Security Strategy had already identified China as a strategic competitor seeking to reshape the international order; the constitutional amendment reinforced that assessment and contributed to the systematic intensification of U.S. strategic competition with China in subsequent years. |
| Western Academic Assessment | Scholars of Chinese politics broadly viewed the amendment as the definitive end of the post-Mao norm of collective leadership. Term limits were a central achievement of the 1982 institutional reforms, designed to prevent unlimited personal power accumulation through institutionalised constraints. Carl Minzner (2018) argued that China was undergoing a deep structural shift from collective to personal rule, and the abolition of term limits represented the institutional confirmation of this process. Susan Shirk (2022) contended that Xi's consolidation of power had gone beyond the Party's normal mechanisms, fundamentally overturning structures of collective decision-making. Most scholars also highlighted that removing term limits introduced a new risk of an unclear succession mechanism, potentially destabilising elite politics. (Minzner, 2018; Shirk, 2022) |
Key Milestones
- Constitutional amendment draft published
The CCP Central Committee's proposed draft constitutional amendments were formally published, including the provision to remove presidential term limits, formally entering the public consultation phase. Rare public dissent briefly appeared on Chinese social media before being censored.
- NPC adopts amendment 2,958 to 2, removing presidential term limits
The First Session of the 13th National People's Congress passed the constitutional amendment by 2,958 votes to 2, with 3 abstentions, removing the two-consecutive-term limit set out in Article 79 on the presidency.
- Xi re-elected President by unanimous vote under amended constitution
The National People's Congress elected Xi Jinping to a second term as President of the People's Republic of China by unanimous vote — the first presidential election held under the amended constitution, with no limit on future terms.
Last verified: