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|---|---|
| China proposes to let Xi Jinping extend presidency beyond 2023 | China proposes to let Xi Jinping extend presidency beyond 2023 |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| China's governing Communist Party has proposed removing a clause in the constitution which limits presidencies to two five-year terms. | |
| The move would allow the current President Xi Jinping to remain as leader after he is due to step down. | The move would allow the current President Xi Jinping to remain as leader after he is due to step down. |
| There had been widespread speculation that Mr Xi would seek to extend his presidency beyond 2023. | There had been widespread speculation that Mr Xi would seek to extend his presidency beyond 2023. |
| Party congress last year saw him cement his status as the most powerful leader since the late Mao Zedong. | Party congress last year saw him cement his status as the most powerful leader since the late Mao Zedong. |
| His ideology was also enshrined in the party's constitution, and in a break with convention, no obvious successor was unveiled. | His ideology was also enshrined in the party's constitution, and in a break with convention, no obvious successor was unveiled. |
| What do we know about the move? | What do we know about the move? |
| The announcement was carried on state news agency Xinhua on Sunday. | The announcement was carried on state news agency Xinhua on Sunday. |
| "The Communist Party of China Central Committee proposed to remove the expression that the President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China 'shall serve no more than two consecutive terms' from the country's Constitution," it reported. | "The Communist Party of China Central Committee proposed to remove the expression that the President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China 'shall serve no more than two consecutive terms' from the country's Constitution," it reported. |
| It gave no other details, but the full proposal is due to be released shortly. | It gave no other details, but the full proposal is due to be released shortly. |
| The move comes with the top officials who make up the party's Central Committee due to meet on Monday in Beijing. | The move comes with the top officials who make up the party's Central Committee due to meet on Monday in Beijing. |
| The proposal will go before legislators at the annual full session of the National People's Congress which starts on 5 March. | The proposal will go before legislators at the annual full session of the National People's Congress which starts on 5 March. |
| How significant is this? | How significant is this? |
| Mr Xi has been president since 2013 and under the current system was due to step down in 2023. | Mr Xi has been president since 2013 and under the current system was due to step down in 2023. |
| The tradition of limiting presidencies to 10 years emerged in the 1990s, when veteran leader Deng Xiaoping sought to avoid a repeat of the chaos that had marked the Mao era and its immediate aftermath. | The tradition of limiting presidencies to 10 years emerged in the 1990s, when veteran leader Deng Xiaoping sought to avoid a repeat of the chaos that had marked the Mao era and its immediate aftermath. |
| Mr Xi's two predecessors have followed the orderly pattern of succession. But since he came to power in 2012, he has shown a readiness to write his own rules. | Mr Xi's two predecessors have followed the orderly pattern of succession. But since he came to power in 2012, he has shown a readiness to write his own rules. |