Politics

China approves plan to abolish presidential term limits, clearing way for Xi to stay on 

China’s National People’s Congress on Sunday voted in favor of a plan to abolish presidential term limits, making it possible for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely and cementing a dramatic shift in Chinese politics. 

At Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on the western edge of Tiananmen Square, 2,964 delegates to cast their votes, with 2,958 voting in favor of the constitutional amendment, two against, three abstentions and one invalid vote. 

The vote, which was largely symbolic, came two weeks after Communist Party-controlled media announced the proposal. It included other changes designed to put Xi and the party at the very heart of Chinese life. 

It is the strongest evidence yet that Xi plans to rule beyond the end of this second term, in 2023, and may take China back to the era of one-man rule. 

Although the party-controlled media insisted the constitutional changes had “won the hearts of the people,” the news spurred a wave of public worry about a return to strongman politics.