The President of the PRC is the head of state of the PRC and the supreme representative of China both internally and externally. The presidency is an independent and important component of the State organs.

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China adopted at the First Session of the First NPC in 1954 stipulates that the president of the PRC is elected for a term of four years. During the Cultural Revolution, the office of the President fell vacant.

The Constitution of 1982 stipulates that the President and the Vice President of the People's Republic of China are elected by the National People's Congress. Citizens of the People's Republic of China who have the right to vote and to stand for election and who have reached the age of 45 are eligible for election as the President or the Vice President of the People's Republic of China. The term of office of the President and Vice President of the People's Republic of China is 5 years, the same as that of the National People's Congress, and they shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.

The President of the PRC has the following functions and powers:

The President of the PRC, in pursuance of the decisions of the NPC and its Standing Committee, appoints or removes the premier, vice premiers, state councilors, ministers in charge of ministries or commissions, the auditor-general and the secretary general of the State Council; confers State medals and titles of honor; issues orders of special pardons; proclaims martial law; proclaims a state of war; and issues mobilization orders.

The President of the People's Republic of China receives foreign diplomatic representatives on behalf of the People's Republic of China and, in pursuance of the decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, appoints or recalls plenipotentiary representatives abroad, and ratifies or abrogates treaties and important agreements concluded with foreign states. The Vice President of the People's Republic of China assists the President in his work. The Vice President of the People's Republic of China may exercise such functions and powers of the President as the President may entrust to him. In the event that the office of the President of the People's Republic of China falls vacant, the Vice President of the People's Republic of China succeeds to the office of President.

In the event the office of the Vice President of the People's Republic of China falls vacant, the National People's Congress shall elect a new Vice President to fill the vacancy. In the event that the offices of both the President and the Vice President of the People's Republic of China fall vacant, the National People's Congress shall elect a new President and a new Vice President. Prior to such election, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall temporarily act as the President of the People's Republic of China.

China's head of state system is a collective leadership. The President of the PRC is subject to the NPC and receives instructions from the highest organ of state power.

Previous Presidents of the PRC were Mao Zedong (from Sep.1954 to Apr.1959), Liu Shaoqi (from Apr. 1959 to Nov. 1969), Li Xiannian (from June 1983 to Apr. 1988), Yang Shangkun (from Apr. 1988 to Mar. 1993) and Jiang Zeming (from Mar. 1993 to Mar. 2003).

The current President of the People's Republic of China is Hu Jintao and Vice-President is Zeng Qinghong.