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


The Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, officially styled the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, is the presiding officer of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, which is considered China's top legislative body. The current Chairman is Li Zhanshu.
From 1998 to 2013, the position was ranked second in China's political hierarchy 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 CPC General Secretary and President. Since 2013 the Chairman has ranked below the Premier, Li Keqiang. The ranking of this position is not necessarily reflective of its actual power, which varies depending on the officeholder.

Powers

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 NPC Standing Committee will act as President.
From 1975 to 1983, the Chairman of the Standing Committee served as head of state of the People's Republic of China, as the presidency had been written out of the 1975 constitution. Theoretically, during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, the NPC Chairman 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 was powerless in the situation.

List of chairmen

; Generations of leadership:
Multiple terms in office, consecutive or otherwise, are listed and counted in the first column counts individuals and the second column.

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from: 27/09/1954 till: 18/04/1959 color:pres text:"Liu" fontsize:10
from: 28/04/1959 till: 06/07/1976 color:pres text:"Zhu" fontsize:10
from: 06/07/1976 till: 05/03/1978 color:pres text:"Song" fontsize:10
from: 05/03/1978 till: 18/06/1983 color:pres text:"Ye" fontsize:10
from: 18/06/1983 till: 27/04/1988 color:pres text:"Peng" fontsize:10
from: 27/04/1988 till: 27/03/1993 color:pres text:"Wan" fontsize:10
from: 27/03/1993 till: 16/03/1998 color:pres text:"Qiao" fontsize:10
from: 16/03/1998 till: 15/03/2003 color:pres text:"Li" fontsize:10
from: 15/03/2003 till: 14/03/2013 color:pres text:"Wu" fontsize:10
from: 15/03/2013 till: 17/03/2018 color:pres text:"Zhang" fontsize:10
from: 17/03/2018 till: 17/03/2023 color:pres text:"Li" fontsize:10