However, since 1993, the post has been held by the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission, who is China's paramount leader.
The first state representative of China dates back to the Republican era when the post was held by Sun Yat-sen upon the establishment of the Republic on 1 January 1912.
"[3] The National Defence Council was unique to the 1954 Constitution, and was mandated as the civil command for the People's Liberation Army.
At the 2nd NPC in 1959, Mao was succeeded by Liu Shaoqi, first-ranked Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.
Research showed that having the NPCSC chairman as the national representative created problems, as the position was equivalent to the speaker of parliament in other countries.
Actual state power was vested in the general secretary of the Communist Party, the premier, and the chairman of the Central Military Commission.
As part of the effort to prevent another leader from rising above the party as Mao had done, all four posts were intended to be held by separate people.
The president therefore performed ceremonial duties such as greeting foreign dignitaries and signing the appointment of embassy staff, and did not intervene in the affairs of the State Council or the party.
[citation needed] The posts of the premier, president and CCP general secretary were held by different individuals in the 1980s.
That said, in reality political power was concentrated on Deng Xiaoping, effectively the paramount leader, who controlled the Party, government and the military from "behind the scenes" without holding any of the three posts.
However, presidents Li Xiannian (1983–1988) and Yang Shangkun (1988–1993) were not simple figureheads, but actually significant players in the highest leadership.
[6] In the 1990s, the experiment of separating party and state posts, which led to conflict between Deng Xiaoping and Zhao Ziyang during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, was terminated.
In 1993, Jiang Zemin, who had been general secretary of the CCP and chairman of the Central Military Commission since 1989, assumed the presidency as well, becoming the undisputed top leader of the party and the state.
According to the Constitution, all of these powers require the approval or confirmation of the National People's Congress (NPC),[12][non-primary source needed] which the office is subject to.
[note 2] Under the constitution, the "state visit" clause is the only presidential power that does not stipulate any form of oversight from the NPC.
As the vast majority of presidential powers are dependent on the ratification of the NPC, the president is, in essence, a symbolic post without any direct say in the governance of the state.
[20] The director of the Office of the President of the PRC (Chinese: 中华人民共和国主席办公室; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Zhǔxí Bàngōngshì) is currently Han Shiming.
[24]The title of the office (Chinese: 国家主席; pinyin: Guójiā Zhǔxí), which literally translates to "state chairman", was unchanged in the Chinese text, but a new English translation of "President of the People's Republic of China" has been adopted since 1982, instead of "Chairman of the People's Republic of China".