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

{{Infobox official post

| post = Chairman

| body = the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

| native_name = {{lang|zh-Hans-CN|全国人民代表大会常务委员会委员长}}

| insignia = National Emblem of the People's Republic of China (2).svg

| insigniasize = 100px

| insigniacaption = National Emblem of China

| insigniaalt =

| flag = File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg

| flagsize = 125px

| flagalt =

| flagborder =

| flagcaption = Flag of China

| image = Zhao in 2023.jpg

| imagesize =

| alt =

| imagecaption =

| incumbent = Zhao Leji

| acting =

| incumbentsince = March 10, 2023

| department = Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

| style =

| type = Presiding officer

| status = National-level official

| abbreviation =

| member_of = Council of Chairpersons

| reports_to =

| residence =

| seat =

| nominator = Presidium of the National People's Congress

| appointer = National People's Congress

| appointer_qualified =

| termlength = 5 years,

| termlength_qualified = renewable once consecutively

| constituting_instrument = Constitution of China

| precursor =

| formation = {{start date and age|df=yes|1954|9|27}}

| first = Liu Shaoqi

| last =

| abolished =

| superseded_by =

| succession =

| unofficial_names =

| deputy = Vice Chairpersons
Secretary-General

| salary = CN¥{{Round|152121|-4}} per annum {{estimated}} (2015){{Cite news |last=Luo |first=Wangshu |date=2015-01-20 |title=Public Employees Get Salary Increase |work=China Daily |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-01/20/content_19353528.htm |url-status=live |access-date=4 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605224342/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-01/20/content_19353528.htm |archive-date=5 June 2019}}

| website = {{url|http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c34195/ld_lzs.shtml|www.npc.gov.cn}}

| footnotes =

}}

{{Chinese

| s = 全国人民代表大会常务委员会委员长

| t = 全國人民代表大會常務委員會委員長

| p = Quánguó Rénmín Dàibiǎo Dàhuì Chángwù Wěiyuánhuì Wěiyuánzhǎng

| altname = Officially abbreviated as

| s2 = 全国人大常委会委员长

| t2 = 全國人大常委會委員長

| p2 = Quánguó Réndà Chángwěihuì Wěiyuánzhǎng

| order = st

}}

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.

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).{{Cite web |last=Liao |first=Zewei |date=2023-03-04 |title=NPC 2023: How China Selects Its State Leaders for the Next Five Years |url=https://npcobserver.com/2023/03/china-npc-2023-state-leadership-transition/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=NPC Observer |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=4 May 2023 |title=FAQs: National People's Congress and Its Standing Committee |url=https://npcobserver.com/about-npc/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=NPC Observer |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Constitution of the People's Republic of China |url=http://en.npc.gov.cn.cdurl.cn/constitution.html |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=National People's Congress}}{{Non-primary source needed|date=November 2023}} 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.{{Non-primary source needed|date=November 2023}} 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.徐高峰，中国共产党在人大设立党组的前前后后，红广角2014(9):38-41

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).{{sfn|Truex|2016|p=53}} 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" ({{zh|s=议长|labels=no}}). During the draft discussion, there were various discussions on whether to use "speaker" or "chairman" ({{zh|s=委员长|labels=no}}) 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" ({{zh|s=主席|labels=no}}), 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.{{Cite news |date=4 March 2017 |title=两会常识｜全国人大为何设"委员长"而不是"议长" |url=https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1631918 |access-date=22 August 2022 |work=The Paper}}

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" ({{zh|s=委员长|labels=no}}) was adopted. The office came into existence with the adoption of the 1954 Constitution, with Liu Shaoqi becoming its first holder.

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.{{Sfn|Mackerras|McMillen|p=232|Watson|2001}} 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.{{sfn|Truex|2016|p=167}}

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.{{cite news |author=Gan |first=Nectar |date=14 June 2015 |title=Former China Communist Party senior official Qiao Shi dies at 91 |newspaper=South China Morning Post |url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1821679/former-china-communist-party-senior-official-qiao-shi |access-date=8 January 2023}} 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.{{Cite news |date=16 March 1998 |title=China's parliament embarrasses Li Peng |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/65923.stm |access-date=8 January 2023}}

List of chairpersons

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

; Generations of leadership:

{{unbulletedlist|{{legend2|#FFB6B6|Mao Zedong Administration|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}|{{legend2|#CCEEFF|Deng Xiaoping Administration|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}|{{legend2|#D8BFD8|Jiang Zemin Administration|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}|{{legend2|#CCFFCC|Hu Jintao Administration|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}|{{legend2|#FBCEB1|Xi Jinping Administration|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; border-collapse: collapse;"

style="background: #cccccc;"

! width="20" | No.

! width="150" colspan="2"| Chairperson

! align="left" width="20"| Term

! width="140"| Took office

! width="140"| Left office

! Political party

bgcolor="#FFB6B6"| 1

| 100px

| Liu Shaoqi
{{lang|zh|刘少奇}}

| 1st

| September 27, 1954

| April 27, 1959

| rowspan="4"| Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

rowspan="3" bgcolor="#FFB6B6"| 2

| rowspan="3"| 100px

| rowspan="3"| Zhu De
{{lang|zh|朱德}}

| 2nd

| April 27, 1959

| January 3, 1965

3rd

| January 3, 1965

| January 17, 1975

4th

| January 17, 1975

| July 6, 1976

colspan="7" data-sort-value="Zz" {{CNone|Office vacant July 7, 1976–March 5, 1978{{Efn|During this vacancy Soong Ching-ling performed the functions and duties of the chairperson as the first vice chairperson.}}}}

bgcolor="#CCEEFF"| 3

| 100px

| Ye Jianying
{{lang|zh|叶剑英}}

| 5th

| March 5, 1978

| June 18, 1983

| rowspan="10"| Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

bgcolor="#CCEEFF"| 4

| 100px

| Peng Zhen
{{lang|zh|彭真}}

| 6th

| June 18, 1983