A third term as President
On 10 March 2023, China's National People's Congress unanimously elected Xi Jinping to a precedent-breaking third five-year term as state president by a vote of 2,952 to 0, formalizing the abolition of constitutional term limits enacted five years earlier.
Li Qiang became Premier at the same session.
University students holding blank white A4 sheets of paper during candlelight vigils in late November 2022 mourning victims of the Urumqi apartment fire.
After a fatal apartment fire in locked-down Urumqi on 24 November 2022, citizens and students across Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, Chengdu, and dozens of campuses held blank white sheets protesting three years of compulsory Zero-COVID lockdowns and censorship; within two weeks the central authorities abruptly dismantled Zero-COVID controls.
What happened
01On 10 March 2023, nearly three thousand delegates at the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing voted 2,952 to 0 with zero abstentions to re-elect Xi Jinping as President of the People's Republic of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Scott Kennedy and others, 'The Completed Construction of the Xi Jinping System of Governance', CSIS Trustee China Hand, section 'The Two Sessions and the Unanimous Vote'.
supported02The election formalized the March 2018 constitutional amendment that had deleted the two-term limitation clause, making Xi the first state leader since Mao Zedong to hold the presidency for more than a decade.Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), Susan V. Lawrence, 'China's 14th National People's Congress: Leadership and Constitutional Norms', CRS Report R41007, section 'The Abolition of the Two-Term Limit in Practice'.
documented03On 11 March, the legislature appointed Shanghai party chief and close confidant Li Qiang as Premier of the State Council, sidelining technocratic rivals and replacing the late Li Keqiang.Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Scott Kennedy and others, 'The Completed Construction of the Xi Jinping System of Governance', CSIS Trustee China Hand, section 'The Appointment of Li Qiang as Premier'.
documented04The legislative session also appointed veteran loyalist Zhao Leji as Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee and former Vice Premier Han Zheng as Vice President, securing complete control over all state institutions.Source: MERICS, Nis Grünberg and Katja Drinhausen, 'China's 2023 Two Sessions: Total Power and Party Primacy', MERICS Briefs, section 'Reshuffling the State Apparatus', subsection 'The State Presidency and Legislature'.
documented05The congress ratified an extensive institutional reform plan that created the Central Financial Commission and other party bodies, stripping the State Council of independent policymaking powers in finance and economic management.Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Scott Kennedy and others, 'The Completed Construction of the Xi Jinping System of Governance', CSIS Trustee China Hand, section 'Party-State Restructuring and Central Commissions'.
documented06Premier Li Qiang's inaugural press conference signaled the complete subordination of the premiership, explicitly defining the State Council's core mandate as an obedient executor of decisions made by the Party Central Committee.Source: MERICS, Nis Grünberg and Katja Drinhausen, 'China's 2023 Two Sessions: Total Power and Party Primacy', MERICS Briefs, section 'The Role of the Premier', subsection 'Subordinating the State Council'.
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Lives
What it meant for the people it happened to, in their own words or in what was written down about them.
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Why it mattered
The unanimous election of Xi Jinping to a third term as state president on 10 March 2023 was the constitutional consummation of the authoritarian transformation initiated five years earlier. The 2,952-to-0 vote count inside the Great Hall of the People was an ostentatious display of choreographed unanimity that eliminated any pretense of legislative independence. Paired with the elevation of trusted protégé Li Qiang to the premiership, the 2023 session dismantled the institutional demarcation between the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council that had anchored governance since Deng Xiaoping. A sweeping structural reform further stripped government ministries of policy-setting authority in finance, technology, and social administration, transferring direct control to newly created Party commissions. By subordinating the premier and the civil bureaucracy entirely to the personalized mandate of the General Secretary, the regime achieved complete political centralization, but eliminated the administrative friction, policy debate, and institutional checks vital for navigating complex economic challenges.
How we know
On 10 March 2023, Xi Jinping was re-elected President of the PRC by a unanimous vote of 2,952 to 0 at the 14th National People's Congress.Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Scott Kennedy and others, 'The Completed Construction of the Xi Jinping System of Governance', CSIS Trustee China Hand, section 'The Two Sessions and the Unanimous Vote'.In the source’s words: “Xi Jinping was 'elected' President of the PRC by a vote of 2,952 to 0”Open the page ↗ · Read 5 October 2026 · Logged 5 October 2026
supportedXi Jinping's re-election in 2023 formally realized the 2018 constitutional amendment, making him the first state leader in modern PRC history to serve a third presidential term.Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS), Susan V. Lawrence, 'China's 14th National People's Congress: Leadership and Constitutional Norms', CRS Report R41007, section 'The Abolition of the Two-Term Limit in Practice'.Open the page ↗ · Read 9 October 2026 · Logged 9 October 2026
documentedOn 11 March 2023, the National People's Congress approved Xi loyalist Li Qiang as Premier, completing the leadership transition in the executive branch.Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Scott Kennedy and others, 'The Completed Construction of the Xi Jinping System of Governance', CSIS Trustee China Hand, section 'The Appointment of Li Qiang as Premier'.Open the page ↗ · Read 9 October 2026 · Logged 9 October 2026
documentedThe 2023 NPC session placed Xi loyalists across all top state posts, with Zhao Leji leading the legislature and Han Zheng appointed Vice President.Source: MERICS, Nis Grünberg and Katja Drinhausen, 'China's 2023 Two Sessions: Total Power and Party Primacy', MERICS Briefs, section 'Reshuffling the State Apparatus', subsection 'The State Presidency and Legislature'.Open the page ↗ · Read 9 October 2026 · Logged 9 October 2026
documentedThe congress adopted a government reorganization creating the Central Financial Commission and subordinate bodies that transferred economic authority from the State Council directly to the Party.Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Scott Kennedy and others, 'The Completed Construction of the Xi Jinping System of Governance', CSIS Trustee China Hand, section 'Party-State Restructuring and Central Commissions'.Open the page ↗ · Read 9 October 2026 · Logged 9 October 2026
documentedPremier Li Qiang used his inaugural press conference to redefine the State Council as an execution agency responsible strictly for carrying out Party Central decisions.Source: MERICS, Nis Grünberg and Katja Drinhausen, 'China's 2023 Two Sessions: Total Power and Party Primacy', MERICS Briefs, section 'The Role of the Premier', subsection 'Subordinating the State Council'.Open the page ↗ · Read 9 October 2026 · Logged 9 October 2026
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