Xi Jinping can be president for life as China removes term limit

EMPEROR XI? As many as 2,958 deputies vote in favour of changing the Constitution

President Xi Jinping can now continue after his tenure ends in 2023 as China on Sunday amended its Constitution to remove the two-term limit, amid fears expressed by experts at home and abroad that he is building a cult of power and personality around himself.

The move effectively means that Xi could remain president for life.

Nearly 3,000 legislators or deputies of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s rubberstamp parliament, voted to amend the Constitution. At the same session, the NPC also granted constitutional authority to the “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”.

China has had a two-term limit for presidents since 1982. On Sunday, that limit was officially scrapped at the Great Hall of the People. As many as 2,958 deputies voted in favour of changing the constitution; two voted against it and three abstained.

The decision to amend the constitution was a foregone conclusion after it was made public a week before the annual session of the NPC that started on March 5. A report in the official Xinhua news agency made it public on February 25.

Since he took over as Communist Party of China (CPC) general secretary and then as president in

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