This was the fifth amendment to the1982 constitution, as well as the first since the2004 amendment. The amendment included 21 articles. Significant changes including granting local legislative power to cities with districts, establishing theNational Supervisory Commission and establishing aconstitutional oath of office. The amendment removed the restriction that thepresident andvice president could not serve more than two consecutive terms, which eventually allowedXi Jinping to be elected to an unprecedented third term in 2023.
On 29 September 2017, CCP General SecretaryXi Jinping chaired a meeting of thePolitburo of the Chinese Communist Party and decided to launch the constitutional amendment work. To this end, a constitutional amendment group to carry out work under the leadership of thePolitburo Standing Committee was created, withZhang Dejiang as the group leader andLi Zhanshu andWang Huning as deputy group leaders.[1] On 27 December, Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Politburo and decided to convene the second plenary session of the19th CCP Central Committee in January 2018 to discuss and study proposals for amending the constitution.[2]
From January 18 to 19, 2018, the second plenary session of the 19th Central Committee was held. The plenary session reviewed and approved the "Proposal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on Amending Some Contents of the Constitution".[3] On January 26, the Central Committee submitted the proposal to theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress.[3] On January 30, the thirty second session of the Standing Committee of the12th National People's Congress unanimously passed the "Draft Amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China" drafted on the basis of the Central Committee's constitutional amendment proposal, and decided to submit it to thefirst session of the 13th National People's Congress for deliberation.[4]
The first session of the 13th NPC opened on 5 March. On March 9, 2,952 deputies of the NPC proposed additional amendments to the draft to change the name of the "Law Committee" to "Constitution and Law Committee". The Secretariat of the Presidium of the Congress decided to add a paragraph to Article 44 of the Draft Constitutional Amendment and include the additional amendments as the second paragraph.[5] On the afternoon of March 11, the NPC voted to pass the Draft Constitutional Amendment. At 15:52, the host of the Congress announced that the Constitutional Amendment was passed.[6] There were 2,958 votes in favor, 2 votes against, 3 abstentions and 1 invalid vote.[7] On 14 March, it was reported that the amended constitution had been published by thePeople's Publishing House and distributed inXinhua Bookstores across the country.[8]
The text of the amendment to the Constitution of China.
The leadership of theChinese Communist Party (CCP) was codified into the main body of the constitution, with the following sentence added after the second paragraph of Article 1 of the constitution: "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature ofsocialism with Chinese characteristics."[9]
Theconstitutional oath of office system was codified into the constitution, with the third paragraph being added to Article 27 of the constitution: "When assuming office, state officials shall publicly take the constitutional oath in accordance with the law."[9]
The setup of the NPC'sSpecial Committees was adjusted and the NPC Law Committee was changed into the NPC Constitution and Law Committee.[9]
The term limits for the President and Vice President were abolished. The third paragraph of Article 79 of the constitution deleted the clause "The President and Vice President may not serve for more than two consecutive terms." Term limits for other posts were kept.[11]
Cities with districts were officially granted the power of local legislation. The second paragraph is added to Article 100 of the constitution: "The people’s congresses of cities divided into districts and their standing committees may, in accordance with the provisions of law, formulate local regulations, which are to take effect after being reported to and approved by the standing committees of the people’s congresses of the corresponding provinces or autonomous regions, provided that such regulations do not contravene the Constitution, laws, administrative regulations, or the local regulations of the corresponding provinces or autonomous regions."[9]
TheNational Supervisory Commission was established, with a new section was added to Chapter 3 of the constitution "National Organs" as Section 7, the "Supervisory Commission". In addition, the relevant articles of the constitution were amended. Afterwards, theMinistry of Supervision, theNational Bureau of Corruption Prevention, the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Procuratorate of Malfeasance and Infringement, and the Office of Prevention of Occupational Crimes were abolished.[9]
AccordingXinhua News Agency, the goal of removing the term limits was to strengthen the "three-in-one" leadership system (“三位一体”领导体制), in which the top leader simultaneously serves as thegeneral secretary of the CCP, state president andchairman of the CMC.[12] According to theFinancial Times, Xi Jinping expressed his views of constitutional amendment at meetings with Chinese officials and foreign dignitaries. Xi explained the decision in terms of needing to align two more powerful posts—general secretary of the CCP and chairman of the CMC—which have no term limits. However, Xi did not say whether he intended to be party general secretary, CMC chairman and state president, for three or more terms.[13] On 10 March 2023, during thefirst session of the 14th National People's Congress, Xi was unanimously elected for an unprecedented third term as president.[14][15][16]
^"广泛征求意见 宪法修正案草案历时4个月形成" [The draft constitutional amendment was finalized after four months of extensive consultation].China Youth Daily (in Chinese). 5 March 2018. Archived fromthe original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
^"中国共产党第十九届中央委员会第二次全体会议公报" [Communiqué of the Second Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party].Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 19 January 2018.Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
^ab"中国共产党中央委员会关于修改宪法部分内容的建议" [Proposal of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on amending some contents of the Constitution].Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 25 February 2018. Archived fromthe original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
^"王晨作关于《中华人民共和国宪法修正案（草案）》的说明（摘要）" [Wang Chen made an explanation on the "Draft Amendment to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China" (Abstract)].Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 6 March 2018. Archived fromthe original on 7 March 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
^Liu, Shixin; Wang, Xinxin; Wang, Yijun (9 March 2018)."2952名代表提出意见赞成设立全国人大宪法和法律委员会" [2,952 deputies expressed their support for the establishment of the National People's Congress Constitution and Law Committee].The Paper (in Chinese). Archived fromthe original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
^"特写：历史性的庄严时刻——记十三届全国人大一次会议表决通过宪法修正案" [Feature: A historic and solemn moment - the 13th National People's Congress voted to pass the constitutional amendment].Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 12 March 2018. Archived fromthe original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
^"中国全国人大高票通宪法修正案" [China's National People's Congress passes constitutional amendment bill with overwhelming majority].Lianhe Zaobao (in Chinese). 11 March 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
^"《中华人民共和国宪法》出版" [The Constitution of the People's Republic of China has been published].Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 14 March 2018. Archived fromthe original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved19 March 2025.
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